Nor Sleet Nor Snow

Last week, my wife found herself in New York after a two week working road-trip that saw her travel from Asia to Europe and finally to America. We were looking forward to her returning on a Wednesday evening flight from JFK Airport which would bring her back home just in time for the traditional family re-union dinner on the eve of the Chinese New Year.

On Wednesday morning in Kuala Lumpur (9 pm at night in New York), my wife called and gave me the disappointing news that she might not be able to come back as scheduled. Earlier that week, New York had already been hit by a blizzard which resulted in all the airports being closed for three days. Now, barely two days later, another blizzard was rolling in. My wife's flight was scheduled for 9pm that day but the problem was that the snow storm was expected to roar in at noon. The travel agents and the airports were predicting that no flights would make it out that night.

Even worse, even if my wife could get on a flight the day after or the following days, she would be stranded in Singapore because all the flights from Singapore to Malaysia were fully booked for people traveling home for the Chinese New Year. There seemed noway that she would be spending the Chinese New Year holidays with me. Very depressing news indeed.

Anyway, later that day, it happened to be my weekly bible study group day and I shared the situation with them and challenged them to pray with me for something that if not impossible, seemed to be most improbable; that God would somehow get my wife home for the holidays. That was at 8 am New York time and a phone call from my wife confirmed that the snow was already falling and New York was under a blanket of white. The storm was still expected to peak in another 4 hours and her flight still a distant 13 hours away. The airports still were prediting cancellations.

Well, having committed the matter to God, I went to sleep and woke up the next day to find an exciting SMS on my handphone from my wife. Her flight was in the air and she was on her way back. Hallelujah!

It later turns out that Newark and LaGuardia airports were closed by the storm. JFK Airport remained open but one by one the flights were cancelled. Somehow, her Singapore Airlines flight was boarded, spent three hours de-icing on the runway but finally took off. It was to be the ONLY flight to leave that night.

I have said it before and I'll say it again. God is the best travel agent there is. Happy Chinese New Year! May great things roar in for you this Year of the Tiger!

Dark Eclipse of the Paper Moon

Disclaimer:- In the last post, I attributed my disappearance as being in the shadow of Jupiter. When I did that, I had no idea that this week would be the Super Mother of All Solar Eclipses. Was it just coincidence? Perhaps, but then again the antenna in my brain that was placed there by visiting Jovian space creatures may have kept me sub-consciously in tune with cosmic happenings. Which ever, I am back, refreshed and raring to blog!

The title of this post is "Dark Eclipse of the Paper Moon". It really consists of three sub-posts below which are all unrelated and is being told in reverse order.

PAPER MOON.
I know I am a bit late with this post but last Monday was the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and man's landing on the moon. Or rather the alledged landing. Yes, folks, this squirrel just loves conspiracy theories and one of my favorites is the theory that the lunar landing was all a hoax staged for propaganda and morale benefits.

As the theory goes, it was the Cold War. Russia won the race to space by sending a cosmonaut into orbit. Communism seemed like it was gaining ground all over the world. President Nixon needed a "victory" to shore up American morale. Also we all know how upright and truthful Nixon was. Some bright spark spin doctor suggests that the USA can win the race to the moon via Hollywood technology.

I know the Mythbusters have done a special on TV and have declared the lunar landing conspiracy theory to be a myth but die hards like me .......well, die hard.


The above picture shows a fully lit astronaut descending the stairs in the dark shadow cast by the lunar module (see dark shadow on ground). Bear in mind the only light source is the sun. How is it that the astronaut so brightly lit? Mythbusters claim it is from reflected light from the surrounding surfaces. I find it hard to believe. Flat surfaces reflect light at an angle away from the incident light. It should not light up someone on the darkside of an object.




The above photos show another problematic aspect of the evidence of the lunar landing. The cameras used had crosshairs etched onto the lens as reference points. This will result in clearly visible crosshairs on every photograph and the crosshairs can only be always in front of any images recorded. Yet, if you look at the label "L", you will see that the crosshair is behind the equipment. There are quite a few of these examples.

The real cute thing is that Hollywood then makes a movie about a fake Mars landing called Capricorn One. Take the truth of a fake lunar landing and make it look like a piece of fiction. It's like hiding a hoax in plain sight.

Enuff said. Let me know what you think.


ECLIPSE
The grand celestial show on Wednesday turned out to be a bit of a wash-out in most places as the sky was full of clouds. In Malaysia, we had a solid bank of low clouds so we could not even see the 20% eclipse we were expecting.

It is interesting to note that in many parts of Asia, the eclipse of the sun is still viewed with superstition and many will not look at it out of fear. Pregnant Indian women are being told not to go out but to stay in bed for the duration. Of course, these people are probably wiser than those who continue to ignore advice and look directly at the sun without proper shielding. With the eclipse traveling across such wide areas of dense populations, statistically, there must be quite a number of newly blind idiots.

I have experienced a partial eclipse before and it was strange to see the shadows and the reduced light. I too would have freaked out if I hadn't been taught about it in school. It can be very awesome and intimidating.

However, this time round, it was mostly just rainy.

THE DARK
Malaysia suffered a different sort of darkness. It was not the eclipse of the sun but it may turn out to be an eclipse of justice. It certainly brought a lot of darkness into the lives of one family in particular and the nation as a whole.

On the 15th of July, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission raided the offices of Members of the State Assembly in Selangor who happen to belong to opposition parties to the Federal Government to investigate alledged misuse of constituency funds. Somehow, the political secretary to one of the State Assemblymen, Teoh Beng Hock, was asked to accompany the officers back to their office to help in their investigations.

It was important to note that Teoh was said to have gone voluntarily and he was a witness and not a suspect. Yet the next day, the 30 year old was found dead on the 5th Floor of the Commissions offices, apparently having plummeted to his death from the 14th Floor. Although, it is known that he was still being interrogated even at 3 am., MACC officers claim to have lost touch with his whereabouts after that.

Teoh was due to marry his pregnant girlfriend on the very next day. Instead, she mourns him at her funeral. How could this young, idealistic public servant who was not even a suspect but voluntarily helping in investigations, ended up tragically killed while at the Commission's Offices?

We hope that there will be no cover up and justice will be done. Then at least this pall of darkness can be lifted just a little.

Teoh's girlfriend and his unborn child face a future without him.

I think it is time to get out from the shadows.

Independence Day?

The majority of the readers that come by my humble blog are actually from the US of A. After I kind of went overboard in my exultation of the Red Maple Leaf and the land of Dudley Do-Right in my last post, I wondered if I should post on the Independence Day celebrations of the United States. Strangely, when I visited most of my regular American Blogs, I did not find a single post about the 4th of July. However, even so, I realised it was only right that I did.

So to all my American readers and visitors, "Happy Independence Day!"

Cherish your hard won independence and protect it. You came so close to losing it after that debacle of an election in 2000 when you could not decide Bush or Gore. Soon after, this letter was drafted purportedly by John Cleese and sent to the American people........it was a notice of revocation of Independence.



To the citizens of the United States of America, in the light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up revocation in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up aluminium. Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise. You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.

Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up vocabulary. Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up interspersed. There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney,upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier). You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as Taggart will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is Devon. If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become shires e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters. British sit-coms such as Men Behaving Badly or Red Dwarf will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American football. There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American football is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays American football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US Rugby sevens side by 2005. You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders,your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called rounders, which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called Indecisive Day.

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time,you will go metric with immediate effect and conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat. Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer,and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. The substances formerly known as American Beer will henceforth be referred to as Near-Frozen Knat's Urine,with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as Weak Near-Frozen Knat's Urine. This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen,Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From November 10th the UK will harmonise petrol (or Gasoline, as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon- get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

16. Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation and have a great day.

John Cleese


Thankfully, you have chosen wisely for now with President Obama and motherland England have their own scandals to deal with; so your Independence seems safe for the next few years.

God is the Best Travel Agent

Many in the mid-west USA will remember that a large number of tornados struck all across the state around the week of June 8th 2008. Tom of Patterns of Ink, covers some of it in his post at that time. The tornados cause a lot of damage as well as some deaths and injuries. There is little that man can do against such fury.

A friend, Daryl, did not know it but he was flying back from Malaysia to Chicago and right into this storm system. Daryl has been studying in a University in Illinois and is currently doing his graduate studies. Each summer, he has returned to be with his family for the holidays and so he had made this trip four times before. It is a long journey.

First there is the long flight to Chicago Airport from Malaysia which is more than 20 hours. Then, typically it takes up to 2 hours to clear customs and immigration. This is because that there is always a lot of students arriving at the same time and Malaysia being a Muslim nation, its students are often interviewed thoroughly by immigration. Daryl needs to take a bus from the airport to the small University town a couple of hours away. He always makes the booking through the internet some weeks before his flight and he always allows for three hours to catch the bus on account of the long delays at immigration. Daryl found that this timing worked very well.

This trip, he had made the same arrangements for booking the bus for three hours after scheduled arrivaal at Chicago airport. However, he was pleasantly surprised that customs and immigration took less than half an hour. The surprising reason was that he was the only returning student on that plane. He found out that he could make an earlier bus and did so.

Some 5 hours later, the bus company called him at his apartment to confirm that he was safe and that he had not been on the later bus which he had made a booking for. Only then did Daryl learn about the severe weather that hit Illinois.

His parents shared this with the church the following Sunday and we gave thanks to God for keeping Daryl safe. The bus that he was supposed to take is the one in the bottom picture.


We believe God took charge of the travel arrangements and protected Daryl from harm. As is my own experience, God is the best travel agent there is.

Squirrel's Secret Spot 12: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

Back in 2005, I had exactly half a day during the week and two days over the weekend to sightsee in Washington D.C. I had imagined myself spending one and a half days trying to cram in all the Smithsonian Museums and the final day touring the numerous monuments and memorials. Of the museums, I was targeting the Air and Space Museum and Natural History museum. However, on that first free half day, I stumbled upon the Smithsonian's newest museum, the National Museum of the American Indian (opened in 2004). I liked it so much, I returned the next day and spent another half day there; severely curtailing my visit to the Air and Space Museum to just a couple of hours and causing me to miss the Natural History Museum altogether.

I am not idolising the Native Peoples. They are human as are all of us and because of that, they have their short-comings and flaws. However, also because of that, there is also greatness and as it is in all cultures, there is both common and unique wisdoms and perspectives of life. These are jewels worth preserving and worth knowing and internalising. I am glad that the U.S. finally is promoting and showcasing the cultures of their First Peoples.

The museum is good and has room for improvement. Amongst the first things to try is their cafeteria which gives you an opportunity to try the traditional staples and meats of native peoples throughout the American continent. I could spend a few lunches there.

There were of course many interesting exhibits of the different tribes and peoples. One of my favorite places was this dark chamber where you can sit and listen to different stories and fables. I could fall a sleep and find myself in those stories when I dream.

Of course, the museum has also to deal with the dark truth of the decimation of the native peoples with the coming of the Europeans. There is a wall with all the names of all the tribes and native peoples in the Americas. All have been decimated and many have even ceased to be but their names still live on in the stories told and on the wall was these words, "We are the Evidence." And now, there is this fantastic museum to help keep their names from fading into the mists of time.

The beautiful curves of the Museum

The stylised harmonious first meeting of Whites and Natives (on left is a Chinese U.N. Observer)

The faces of a people....the Yakima.

It is claimed that the U.S. constitution was based on the constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy which included the Mohawk.

My Mohawk Pin-up Girl. (I mean it with the greatest respect. I believe she represents the strength of grace and form, the power of a resilient people.)

The Craftmanship of the Native Peoples

The Superior Killing Technology of the Whites

The Names that call out to be remembered.

All photos by LGS.

Tough Act to Follow

I want to thank all those who took the trouble to read my last post and for all of you who went as far as to leave comments. Talking about one's faith is not always easy and one is always concerned that someone is offended or slighted by what is said. I will not back away from saying what I believe but have no intentions of offending anyone and if I had, I apologise.

Quite unexpectedly, according to my sitemeter, the last post was probably the most read post yet on my blog with 170 visitors in two days and also has the most number of comments. Thank you again for your interesting and thoughtful comments. I know this doesn't compare with some of your blogs which get hundreds of comments per post but it makes the sunshine over at this humble blog.

My problem was to decide what to blog about next. It is a tough act to follow. What could I do that would not appear boring and uninspired after that? Should I write about food cause there are always hungry readers? Should I just put up pretty pictures? Should I gossip about Paris Hilton? Naw, not ready to sink that low.

I decided that when faced with such a predicament, one should not fool around with some amatuerish effort. No, it's best to call in the professionals. And so, for your comedic relief, here are couple of real pros reprising a famous comedy routine called "Who's on first?" with a modern twist.

Rediscovering Christina's World

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth

I do very well in quizzes and in games like "Who wants to be a millionaire?" and Trivial Pursuit. That's because I have a lot of general, trivial and useless information in my head. I am trying to say that I have quite a good general knowledge. However, there are two categories where I am weak in and are my archilles' heel in such general knowledge quizzes. These two areas are "current politics" and "art".

I generally have a loathing of politicians so someone has to be extraordinarily good or unfortunately, extraordinarily bad for me to register him/her in my mind. Hence, I don't know the names of most current politicians.

With art, I do know a bit but that's been what I've picked up for myself over the years on rare exposure to treasure houses of arts like the British Museum or the Kuntahistorische in Vienna. In the famous words of a celebrity from American Idol; "I've had no formal training." Nevertheless, I know some of the famous names and understand the difference between impressionism and surrealism. (Although I still don't understand the difference between some Modern Art and an accident).

So, I think we have established that when it comes to art, I don't know much. However, I know what I like. I like Monet, Renoir, Klimt, and Dali. I also know that I don't share the fascination most of the world has over Mona Lisa's smile.

There was one painting that I remembered seeing and I can't remember where or when but whenever my mind turns to art, I see it in my mind's eye. Somehow this picture made an impression on my soul. The frustrating thing was I knew nothing about this picture. So yesterday, I went and got the help of an expert, Josie. I told her about the key elements of the painting and presto, hole in one, she got the right one on the first try.

So, I finally know that this painting that haunts me is called "Christina's World" and is by Andrew Wyeth. It seems Mr. Wyeth is a famous painter and this painting is considered one of the icons of modern American painting. I did not know all this before. I did a lot of researching and I found out all the following wonderful facts (although I suspect it may be old news for many readers).

This was Mr. Wyeth's first commercially successful painting and sold for just USD 1,800. It was painted in 1948. The girl in the painting was a neighbour and a friend of his wife. Her name is Christina Olson (born May 3, 1893 and died January 27, 1968). I have often wondered about the unique composition of the painting with the twisted torso of the woman and the deliberate emphasis of distance to the houses. I have also wondered at the frail limbs and since the face is not seen in the painting, whether it was a girl or a woman and whether she was smiling, crying or distressed. I guess I like this picture cause it made me wonder what the story was all about.

It seems that Christina was suffering from some progressive muscular degenerative disease. A precise diagnosis was never made and it could have been a number of inheritable degenerative diseases or polio which was very common then. At the time of the painting, Christina was in her 50's. She had almost no strength in her legs but refused to use a wheelchair and prefered to crawl all over the house and farm. She was by all accounts a very capable woman who did her utmost to not allow her disability hinder her from a full and as normal a life as possible.

When Andrew Wyeth painted this painting, Christina was actually making her way down the hill to visit her parent's grave. The farm, barn and house is still there today and can be seen if you visit Cushing, Maine.

The other interesting thing is that this painting was done using the Tempera method in which pigments were mixed with egg contents to create a better binding agent.

Well, I don't know how many years the un-named painting haunted me and had me wondering. I am so glad to be finally formally introduced to it and the story of the painting and its subject does not disappoint.

Senators on Ice

Mike Fisher scores for Ottawa Senators, a short-handed goal

against the Buffalo Sabres in a Stanley Cup Semi-final Playoff game (2007)

.....AND HE MAKES IT LOOK SO EASY!!!!!

As far as sports go, there are two games which I would not dare to play for fear of loss of life and limb or at least a few teeth. These are rugby and ice hockey. Yet strangely enough, these are the two sports that I watch and follow with a passion. If the New Zealand All-Blacks lost a finals or a series or if Team Canada failed to secure the ice hockey world championship, I'd just feel that something was not right in the world. Maybe even the sun won't rise the next day.

This is strange cause in my part of the world and really in most of the world, soccer rules supreme. However, having watched ice hockey when I was in Canada, I couldn't help notice that soccer seemed to be played in slow motion. It was like watching 22 snails on a large playing field. Why do I like these two violent, full contact sports?

The truth is these games are played with more passion and sense of fairplay than most non-contact games. Soccer is riddled with shameful acts like Maradonna's Hand of God incident. I used to play basketball and believe me its a dirty game of elbowing and tripping. The most contact for a non-contact sport. Also strangely inspite of the mayhem on the playing field (fights are regular in both ice hockey and rugby), the fans are generally well behaved.

This is in contrast to sedate games like cricket where fans fight, umpires are beaten up and even coaches are murdered. Soccer too is full of violent fan related incidents. So maybe part of the appeal of watching rugby or ice hockey is that I feel very safe in the stands while watching my team work out my aggressions for me on the field or ice rink.

I did not grow up with ice hockey, so what made me pick up the fever. I have to say the combination of speed, agility and precision passing and shooting. When it all comes together it is like a well choreographed dance. And what an adrenaline high to watch a game in multiple overtime and playing sudden death.

When I was studying in Ottawa, the Senators were only just re-formed. I was so excited but then later disappointed when almost all the tickets were snapped up for the whole season. At any rate, it was a bit too costly for my student budget. However, the newly formed Senators were pretty much the whipping boys in those days so I didn't miss much. The teams that were doing well included the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers. I was there when the great one moved to California. A day of national mourning in Canada. The names I remember were names like Fleury, Messier, and the notorious Lindros.

Today, the Senators are 3 games up in the best of 7 semifinals against the Buffalo Sabres. The Senators are on the ice and heading for the Stanley Cup. Go Sens Go!!!!

Two years ago, I was in Denver for just a couple of nights but I was thrilled that I managed to get tickets for the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers game. This was my one and only live NHL game. I went with a friend who had never been to a hockey game before either. Our tickets turned out to be as far up in the rafters as possible. I'm told they are called the nose-bleed seats because of the high altitude!

I went dressed for the occasion in an All-Blacks Rugby T-shirt just to confuse everyone. To my surprise, a guy just two seats away was also wearing the exact same T-shirt. What are the odds of two nutters wearing a rugby shirt to an ice hockey game? We were pleasantly surprised.

It was a great experience even though I was supporting the Oilers who eventually lost 5-3. I am now plotting for an opportunity to go to an international rugby game wearing the Ottawa Senators T-shirt!

(all photos except the first one are by LGS in Denver 2005)

To the Fallen at Virginia Tech

I wish to add my condolences to all the messages of love and support going out from around the world to those victims, families and friends that have been affected by the tragedy at Virginia Technical University in the United States.

We wish that such incidents do not occur and that lives, especially young lives, are not so abruptly and senselessly ended. We wish for a world that is safe for our children.

I pray for God to bring comfort, peace and love to the many broken hearts in the local and extended community.

No one can understand what it is like unless they have gone through something similar. Nevertheless, I felt that such a tragedy cannot go unnoticed or unmarked. The following poem is my attempt to emphatise. I was inspired by the fine writings and reflections of daysgoby.

Did I not dream of you last night?
Felt your presence and all seemed right
Your gentle voice, a lullaby goodnite,
I slept in your arms till morning light

Did I really wake to a world without you?
How am I expected to continue?
The sun is still shining, the sky is blue
But I have nothing this day to get up to

Were you, on this spring day, really taken from me?
Will your dreams now never become reality?
Did he not see your beautiful flame burning brightly?
Are you, my sweet, now safe in glory?

You have left us with so many wonderful memories
The joy, fears and hopes of holding a new born baby
You grew up to be all we could ever hope you to be
All these years, you made us proud and we loved you dearly.

Will I ever really be able to say goodbye?
Remember you without a tear in my eye?
These scars of love upon my heart, I’ll wear with pride
I’ll embrace the pain, and forever keep your memory alive.

Time Ball

Time Ball at Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

(Photo by LGS)

Vivian Harrison "Stu Yat"
A lot of cultures depend on a strong oral tradition to pass their stories, their wisdom and their history from generations to generations. I came across a very interesting tradition called the "time ball" which is practiced by the Yakama (pronounced YACK-uh-maw) tribe of Washington State, USA.

In the past much of the tribe's history was passed down from generation to generation by the women of the tribe using an oral tradition known as the time ball. New brides used hemp twine to record their life history starting with courtship. They tied different knots into the twine for days and weeks and added special beads for significant events.

They then rolled the twine into a ball known as the "ititamat," which means "counting the days" or "counting calendar." The ball of twine grew in size as time passed and as events occurred. The women would sometimes divide the twine into 25-year lengths to make it more manageable. When the women were very old, they could use the knots and beads of their time balls to recall not only what happened in their lives but when the events occurred. They could easily recount when their children were born, when they moved away, and other major experiences. When a woman died, her "ititamat" or time ball was buried with her. (Source:Bonnie M. Fountain)

I found this to be a fascinating way of recording and recalling one's life history. I can imagine the privilege and the wonder of sitting by a camp fire and having someone untwine their time ball and share orally the story of their life; what every bead, stone or knot represented and meant to them.

The Time Ball which is shown in the picture is a replica was done by Vivian Harrison who is a well known tribal historian, storyteller and artist of the Yakama peoples. Here is another time ball by Delsie Selam and it represents two years of her life from 1995 to 1997.

I am trying to imagine what my ititamat would look like. What events of my life would I chose to record on it and what choice of bead or stone would I use and why? At a birth of a child, would I use a seed instead? Would my ititamat be full of colorful memories or will it just mark the passing of time? What would your time ball look like and what memories would it record?

*The Yakama's time ball brings to mind, the Incas. They had no alphabet but apparently ran their empire, recording history, issueing directives and laws and maintaining records of crops and supplies by a complex system of knots on string. A more modern connection may lie in the current theory of physicists that the universe consists of "strings". It is a concept that I find hard to understand but which seems to fit so nicely with the tradition of the time ball - a lifetime measured and recorded on a string.

Portland in Blues

Please click on photos to get a bigger picture (all photos by lgsquirrel)

Please bear with me as I could not resist having one more post in my current "blue" period. This is actually more of a photography posting as I wanted to share with you the top three pictures. However, I will natter on a bit about the background to these pictures.

I am quite proud of the pictures which I took from my hotel window as dawn breaks across Portland, Maine in late autumn 2005. The deep blues and glowing reds are the classic colors seen in the Singapore Girl photographs that I mentioned in my last post; so you can see that I have been influenced greatly by that series. At a personal level, I find such colors soothing and inviting. I try to get shots like these whenever I can. I hope you like them.

My visit to Portland, Maine was way too short - just three nights and two days. As I was there to attend some meetings, there was in fact little time to do any sightseeing. I did manage some and I plan to share more about this and about the wonderful people of Portland at another time. For now, I just want to share with you what I did at the start of each of those two wonderful mornings in Portland.

After taking those photographs, I was out into the freezing cold by 7.30 am. I could have eaten at the hotel but hotel food is hotel food the world over and it was not friendly to the pocket either. No, I purposely was out of the hotel earlier than I had too so that I could cram in as much of local life as possible. Most of my colleagues ventured no further than the convenience store further down the block for a hot coffee and sandwiches for breakfast. I, though wanted to be a bit more adventurous.

I wandered much further, allowing my nose and my stomach to lead me. At first, I was disappointed as nothing much seemed opened. Eventually, I headed down to the harbour area. I had to cross a very busy road but near the commercial harbour area there was a diner and it seemed very popular with the locals. It was functional and unpretentious but little touches like its community bulletin board suggested friendliness. It was "Becky's".

I never found out who Becky was and I did not ask but I found myself fitting right in even though I must have stood up like a sore thumb. The waitresses, the cook and the patrons were all engaged in cheerful banter with exchanges of greetings and well-wishes flying about at a regular rate. After ordering from the small menu, I found myself at the counter rubbing elbows with the locals; some of the burly, barrel chested men, I imagined must be weather-hardened fishermen. Others, from their conversations were clearly local artists and craftsmen, a couple of retirees and even some students. I was even sharing and exchanging sections of the local newspaper with others on the counter.

I was very pleased with the unhealthy size of my breakfast when it arrived. As I dug in, I was a silent listener to all variety of gossips and exchanges of local news which appeared to carry on with gusto despite the obvious presence of a stranger. This was great. I felt right at home. I even joined the locals in wishing one of the waitresses well as she planned to quit to carry on her studies. This was done surreptitiously as apparently the boss (Becky, I presume) had not yet been informed. Before I left, several locals told me the best place to get mussels, clam chowder and of course lobster for lunch. I took their advice and it turned out to be an equally friendly local haunt. I left Becky's full and satisfied in stomach and in spirit.

I was back the next day again but this time I considered myself one of the regulars!

My cheerful waitress

Nothing like a cold-busting Maine Breakfast

The friendly diner, counter and patrons

My Stand In

Dear friends,

It had to happen. I am swamped under with work and there's no way I can spend time blogging these few days. I work,work, work and work and all I get is peanuts. Anyway, when I am in such dire straits, I am so pleased to have my big brother, President Bush to stand in for me. Please treat him with the same kindness you showed to my recent poem and to Rodney the Rat.