My Ass Hurts!

Ow! Ouch! Ooo! Arrgh! Owwwooowwwoow! Ouch! That was a quick summary of the week that was. If you still haven't got the hint, my ass hurts...............a lot.

Before I go on with my misery report, I would first like to thank all of you for your kind words, prayers and best wishes. They were all much appreciated. Thank you Mark (The Walking Man) for recommending Neurontin; it's the only thing keeping me from screaming. Thank you Proxima for reminding me I am not a spring chicken; I must really remember that so that there will not be a next time.

My mom is doing physically well. Operatio went without a hitch and without any complications. The wound is healing well. She is doing physiotherapy and her strength is returning to her leg. Physically, everything is as good as could be expected but she is a bit depressed and needs to be ordered/cajoled to do her exercise. Surprisingly, her appetite is very good and she might even put on some much needed weight.

As for me, my ass hurts.............. a lot. the doctor has confirmed that I have not one but three prolapsed discs in the lumbar region of the spine. At least two of those are compressing the spine and one is compressing a nerve leaving the spine. I have difficulty walking or standing for more than a minute and I cannot lie down flat. I have been sleeping in a sitting position for the last week.

Prognosis though seems hopeful as it appears to be an old injury which has been aggravated rather than a new one. The doctor recommended a treatment of physiotherapy and traction. I am on neurontin . Surgery will be considered only if the condition shows a deterioration. Doctor cheerfully predicts that I will be incapacitated with pain for at least another two weeks.

That means I am off and working from home. Whether that means I will post on the blog more regularly or less regularly remains to be seen.

In the meantime, a word from the wise, take care of your back or you might get a painful kick in the ass.

Hippy Sick

THIS IS A HIPPIE CHICK

She has n0thing whatsoever to do with today's post other than being a blatant attempt to get more people to visit this blog under false pretenses.

THIS IS A HIP JOINT

WHICH IS ALTOGETHER NOT THE SAME AS A HIPPIE JOINT

My mother, 85 years old, had a fall last Sunday and on Monday, it was confirmed that she had a fracture of the femur near the hip joint. Despite her age, the doctors' concurred that it was best to operate and correct the situation. She subsequently had an operation to insert a metal plate and screw to hold the bone together. Overall, she is recovering well although she now faces several weeks of physiotheraphy. A lot of my time this week has been spent having her X-rays done, visiting doctors, etc.

A few weeks ago, I had a bad fall which resulted in a bruised ego and a trapped nerve. Unfortunately, due to the additional stress from carrying or transporting my mother about, I aggravated the nerve and was in considerable, immobilising pain from that.

So you could say that both of us are currently Hippy Sick and that's the reason I have not been blogging and visiting your blogs lately. I got an injection for the pain this morning and I may be on a Hippie High so please excuse me if parts of this post are senseless, incoherent or even possibly psychedelic!

I Wish For Two Wishes

Claudia tagged me to do this Make a wish meme.

I find myself to be very often to be a mass of contradictions pretending to be one person. That being the case, please excuse me as I cheat and make two wishes. This first one comes from my emotional and spiritual side.



This second wish comes from my thinking and cynical side.



1. Think about what it is that you want more than anything, what your heart’s desire and fondest wish is, and what it is that you would wish for if you were to see the above wishing star flame across the night sky.
2. Right click and SAVE the blank graphic below.
3. Use a graphics program of your choice and place your wish on this picture:

4. Post the Make A Wish Meme and your wishing star on your blog along with these rules.
5. Tag as many people as you like so that there can be wishing stars all across the Blogosphere and ask them to please link back to Linda at Are We There Yet? so that she can see what wishes others have made and share those wishes with others.

If you don’t currently have a graphics program and aren’t sure how to put your message on the picture you can either download one for free (Linda used IrfanView which is an image viewer but also allows you to customize and optimize your pictures) or email Linda at mouseski58@yahoo.com, tell her what you’re wishing for, and she’ll customize the picture for you and email it back to you so that you can then post it.

Claudia tagged the following: FuriousBall, Los Angelista, She became a butterfly, No Nonsense Girl, Mr. Fabulous, Miss Britt, Jameil, Heart in SF, Kevin Charnas, Squirrelly, Michelle at Lede me on and Michael C.

I tag the following: Citizen of the world, Happy Downtowner , Daysgoby, Claire and Medstudentwife .

We Da Men

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" so goes that famous saying. I often warn my wife to beware of taking advice from some obscure website with regards to health issues as often these websites take a little kernel of knowledge and turn it into a big bag of pop-corn emptiness.

My mother-in-law once had a severe headache but the only medication she could find was a time-release medicine capsule. She understood that the capsule consists of tiny little spheres which dissolve at different rates so that the medication is released gradually over 24 hours. However she wanted quick relief and so she rather "cleverly" crushed the capsule into fine powder and then mixed it in water to drink. Of course, she virtually over-dosed but luckily she woke up 12 hours later groggy but fine. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Or it might be darn embarrassing.

Before I continue, I must introduce you to my partner in shame. His name is Magdy and we were both bright, smart, whipper-snappers at University together. Our combined "little knowledge" would get us into some pretty dumb situations.

Well, perhaps one of the most memorable caper was when we were traveling in Germany and we needed to go to find a latrine at a train station. Our problem was that we did not speak much German at the time. The latrines were labeled "Herren" and "Damen" but which was for males and which for females?

I wonder, dear readers, which would you have chosen for men and which for women and why. As for Magdy and I, we put on our thinking caps and came up with this folly;

1. Assumption: most European languages were derived from and based on ancient Latin.
2. Assumption: we should be able to recognise the root word in either English or German. Just as "rat" is "ratte" and cat is "katze" and "Monday" is "Montag".
3. Therefore,we applied this logic and came up with Herren is for females as it has the root word "Her"
4. While "Damen" was obviously for men as it is clearly derived from "Da Men".

Hence this embarrassing story in which my intellectual dignity was only rescued by the presence of mind to ask Magdy to test out our theory first!

My apologies to mago and any German reader for the mess we made with your language. Who are we? We da men.

Squirrels - The Next Generation

Left: Spikey on our little wooden walkway
Below: Loonie feeding
All photos by LGS


One early spring day, I was sitting on a small lawn chair on my tiny wooden boardwalk just outside the entrance to my subterranean Hobbit-like dwelling place. It had been a long winter but now most of the snow had melted or was melting and there was a lovely sunbeam right on where i was sitting. Suddenly, I heard some thing fall on to the boardwalk behind me like sand and pebbles dropping from a height. I lazily looked up and I saw two fresh looking furry faces looking back at me, peeping out from under the eaves.

They were both golden colored like their mother, Loonie. I was thrilled to see them and they seem quite amused at the greater world which they were perhaps viewing for the first time from the safety of their high vantage point. My wife and I named them Goldie and Blondie. I know, I know. Not very imaginative. Still it was a thrill to see the offspring of Spikey and Loonie, the next generation.

On another warmer Spring day, I was again on my little foldable lawn chair on my boardwalk when Spikey appeared and went all round me checking things out. Normally, he would then head for the peanuts stacked in piles on the boardwalk. This time he disappeared back into one of the evergreen bushes near the wall but when he emerged, he had his two girls in tow.

Spikey came to introduce his family to me. The shy girls would follow close behind him wherever he went. You could see that he was teaching the girls that it was okay to come near this giant creature and take the peanuts. I was beaming.

Parenting did not come easily for Spikey. He struggled to control some of his instincts. On this occasion for example, he showed Goldie a pile of nuts. However, when Goldie tried to eat a nut, Spikey reacted by using his front paws and pushing down on Goldie's face until she dropped the nut. This happened a few times until Goldie stopped trying to take a nut from the pile. Spikey then sat down and started eating his nuts but Goldie persisted by putting her face right up next to Spikey's. Eventually, Spikey relented and actually handed the nut in his mouth over to her. He then hopped off and left the pile of nuts to Goldie. Ah, the sacrifices that parents have to make.

Another interesting thing happened just a couple of days later. The two girls appeared on the wooden boardwalk by themselves. Without Spikey there, they seemed less certain about approaching me and my pile of nuts. They sat a safe distance away and looked at me. I tried to entice them by throwing nuts at them but as they eat the nuts, slowly draw them nearer by throwing the nuts closer and closer to myself. This was working until one stray nut bounced along the wooden walkway and jumped out into the freshly growing grass, just a few centimeters away.

This seem to perplex the girls. They went right up to the edge of the boardwalk but refused to step on the grass. Instead they paced excitedly up and down, keeping an eye on that peanut morsel just a short distance away. Finally Blondie tried to get the nut. She dug her hind claws into grip holds in the wooden platform and tried to stretch her body as far as possible over the edge of the boardwalk without touching the ground. She succeeded and got her peanut reward. I purposely threw a few of these peanuts into the grass. Each time one of the girls took up this stretching posture to retrieve the nut. I then realised that they had not yet been taken by Spikey or Loonie onto the grass. They felt safe on the wooden boardwalk but they were not sure about the grass.

I found this amusing and so surprising. I would have thought that grass would have been something natural to squirrels but it would appear from my observations, they had to learn about it.

Although the girls would later not be as regular as Spikey in visiting, I always felt a particular thrill when they did come. It was almost like having grandchildren!

Farewell Darkness and Hello Light

Claudia gave me this ...........um.......way back at the beginning of March but I am only now acknowledging it. What's my excuse? Well, there was this bear, see.......and you can read all about it here. Anyway, thanks very much Claudia, it is much appreciated.

"Friendship is a light in the darkness". I can really relate. I had a very serious bout with depression when I was at University and I remember how very suffocating it was. The world was all darkness, stifling darkness that you feel you would faint because there was no air. Then once, when it seemed that the darkness would stretch on forever, I asked a friend to just be with me for a weekend. No counseling, no analysis, no "why are you crying", no questions. Just tea and company. No judgment, only acceptance and friendship. Just a weekend but it meant the world to me. It was a sliver of light in my prison. It gave me back the sky. I could breathe and I could sleep. By that light, I climbed out of my pit. (for more details, here)

Wow. I hadn't meant to go that dark but every time I re-visit that episode of my life, its dark depths still is able to pull at me. But for now, let's stay out of the dark side. The point that was being made is that friendship is like alight in the darkness.

All this reminds me of a scene from the movie called "Farewell to the King" which also happens to be in my opinion one of the best movies ever filmed in Malaysia. Set in the dark days of World War Two and in the deep jungles of Borneo, it traces the story of an American deserter who somehow wins the trust of the native tribes in the jungle interior and becomes their "king". In this capacity, he tries to keep the war outside from reaching his people.

The scene I refer to comes towards the end of the movie when one of the protagonists, a British Officer, visits a captured Japanese Colonel. The Colonel had done everything to try to avoid defeat. He had been ruthless and took no prisoners. Later, cut-off and surrounded by enemy troops, he continued to lead his men to carry out attacks. When they ran out of food, they descended into madness and began to eat the flesh of their victims to keep going. However, as they continued to wander under the dark forest canopy, the noose grew tighter and in their desperation, so did their depravity.

Eventually, most were slaughtered in an ambush and now the Colonel was in custody and soon to be executed for his war crimes. The Colonel was all cleaned up and seemed to have recovered some of his former dignity. Even though he knew he was to be executed soon, he reached out and shook the British Officer's hand. It was this officer who had captured him. As he shook his hand he said, "Thank you for showing me the sky again".

At least, that is what I re-collect. We all need to see the sky. May we all always have someone to show us the sky.

What if God was one of us.

"What if God was one of us

Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus

Trying to make his way home"

(Song & Lyrics by Eric Bazilian and originally sung by Joan Osborne)

"What if God was one of us?" This was one of the questions posed in the Joan Osborne song from 1995. The song asked many questions about faith and believing. It even asked what I think is a very insightful question, "Would you want to see God's face, if seeing meant you would have to believe?" Many, I suspect would not want to see God's face cause having to believe would be very inconvenient to a self-centered life.

However, let us reflect more on this first question, "What if God was one of us?" How would we really react to a God who came down from heaven to walk and live amongst us? What would we ask this God amongst us? How would our life be altered?

If this seems like a novel idea, it is not. The Bible tells us that God's plan to save mankind from its own folly and sin involved His coming in the form of man. At Christmas, we sing of the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem, we sing of the Emmanuel which actually means God with us. Jesus was God amongst us, one of us.

And how did the world react to Jesus? They crucified him on a cross outside the city gates of Jerusalem where just a few days earlier they had welcomed him in like a king. Just a few days before, he was their Messiah, their savior, their hero. Now they had beaten him, whipped him, striped him and hung him from the cross and there they mocked him as he died.

Yet, it is through his death that good news has reached mankind. Jesus has become our Messiah, our saviour and our hero. He did this by voluntarily dying and taking on the punishment of the sins of all mankind. He did this by defeating death and rising from the dead. He did this at Easter.

The life, death and resurrection of Christ was foretold in the ancient scriptures hundreds of years before. It said that he would be nothing special in appearance......a slob like one of us. However, by dying on the cross, he has freed us from the power and penalty of sin and has given us a future with hope, walking with God. What is our response to God who was one of us, lived and died for us and now alive to give us hope. What is our response? "Would you want to see God's face, if seeing meant you would have to believe?"

From the Book of Isaiah 53:1-12
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

(Salvadore Dali's Crucifixion; 1954)

Raptor Watch 2008

Raptor Watch. We have been organising this public event for 9 years now. Bird-watchers have been observing this phenomena for more than 30 years but the birds have been performing this ritual for millions of years.

Every year in March, a bird festival is held over one weekend at a place called Tanjung Tuan in Melaka and near the seaside resort town of Port Dickson. This event is held in conjunction with the annual migration of raptors or birds of prey from their wintering grounds in Indonesia and Australia back to their breeding grounds in Siberia, China, Korea and Japan. Over a three month period, several hundred thousand raptors will pass through this spot at Tanjung Tuan.

Tanjung Tuan is special to these birds for three important reasons. Firstly, this is the shortest distance between Indonesia and Malaysia (or mainland Asia). These migratory birds first major obstacle in their long journey is to cross the open water of the Straits of Melaka. It obviously is an advantage to them to chose the shortest distance across the Straits and that is to fly through Tanjung Tuan.

Secondly, these birds would benefit from having food and shelter after making the crossing and Tanjung Tuan is the only place on the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia which has a coastal forest which can provide them both. It also has a mangrove forest and a small coastal reef.

Finally, these raptors are large birds. The Oriental Honey Buzzard can have a wingspan of up to 6 feet. They are heavy birds and flapping their wings to fly would be tiring and use up too much energy. Instead, these birds are experts at riding hot air currents and soaring and gliding. Tanjung Tuan is the only place in the whole of Peninsular Malaysia that has a cliff face which encourages the formation of hot air thermals which greatly helps the birds on their onward journey.

Tanjung Tuan is one of the most protected areas in Malaysia as it is a protected forest reserve, it is a protected marine conservation area and it is a protected historical heritage site. Yet about 10 years ago, there was reason to believe that all that "protection" was due to be withdrawl in favour of building condominiums and holiday homes. In order to raise public awareness and support for the birds and for the protection of the site.

Over the years, the event has grown from a small event with just a few hundred people in attendance. This year's event was attended by about 3,000-4000 people. Apart from watching the raptors fly in, we have some 25 exhibition booths, games, guided tours of the forest, mangroves and the corals, hourly talks about nature and even a few cultural and musical performances.

It is also no longer just a local event. We have visitors from U.K., U.S.A., Australia, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Apart from public awareness, there is a serious scientific effort to actually count the number of birds going through Tanjung Tuan. Raptors are top in the food chain and changes in their population can be a good indicator of the health of the ecosystem.

This was how I spent my last weekend.

Bird's eye view of our Raptor Watch site

Cameras, Binoculars, Telescopes and Bird watchers everywhere.

Raptors Overhead

This rescued Raptor was a great hit with children and adults alike.

It's not all about birds:- Here Maya Karin, current movie celebrity (in her latest movie, she plays a mermaid) playing with snake

Face of a happy volunteer

Graphic Violence

ME! "Tra-la-la-la-la..."

"Look out, Squirrel! There's bears in dem woods"

censored.....censored.....cens....

I'm okay. You should see the other guy!

Hi, guys and gals. Reporting in from my "black" week. Thanks for your, thoughts, prayers and good vibes. It was much appreciated. I did run into bears and after a lengthy brawl, we decided to call it a tie and retreated to our corners. Anyway, that's old news. It is time to look out for a brighter week ahead.

No Bright Eyes

(Photocredit: Cheryl from Ladeda)

Tired.......beat. Been working and toiling.
Burning both ends of the candle.
Up before sunrise and long into the night.
Head on pillow ....... too short a time.
So much to do...... all need attention.
Work..... work....... family........church.......friends.......work.
Need more hours in a day....for at least this whole week.
Phone calls.......more work.
Got to squeeze it all in ........already
bulging into next week but datelines' this week.


Also.......storms are coming.
More than one.......thunderclouds and twisters.
Turmoil. Anxiety. Stress.
Lack of sleep......words may fly and tempers rise.
Dark in the middle.
Lost in the noise.
Can't sleep.


This is going to be a very busy, challenging and difficult week for me. I will probably not post again this week. Keep me in mind as I may be wrestling bears again.

We Have Opposition!

I took part in Malaysia's 12th General Election with a heavy heart as I felt Malaysia continue on a downward spin due to a culture of racially motivated politics, corruption , cronyism and injustice. I also felt that with the Malaysian public's general political apathy and fatalism coupled with a not entirely fair election process, the election outcome would once again result in a domination by the ruling Coalition Government which has been the case since independence.

I was particularly upset by the emergence of some young candidates who were related to some older scandal associated politicians. These older politicians have been caught too many times with their hands in the cookie jar and thought that the Malaysian voter could be hoodwinked once again by them stepping aside but nominating instead their, son, daughter-in-law or their nephew. Even worse, these new generation of candidates seem to think it was their God-given right to the succession and this was reflected in some of the comments they made on the campaign trail (see last post).

I was so sure of the results that I did not even bother watching the coverage of the results as they began to come in across the country on the TV channels. Then I got a call from a friend at about 11 pm and he told me something special was happening. I turned on to the election coverage and was glued to it until 3 am. By the time, I awoke this Sunday morning, a miracle had taken place. The Malaysian voters had finally woken up and spoke out against the corruption in the system.

For the first time in almost 35 years, the National Front had been denied a two-third majority in Parliament(which would otherwise allow them to change law and constitution without needing the support of opposition parties). The Coalition of Opposition Parties won 88 seats in the 222 seat Parliament which is an increase of 61 seats since the last election.

At the state level elections, after the last election, the National Front Government held control of 12 of 13 states and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. Today, they lost 4 more states and the Federal Territory to the Opposition. This is a major achievement for the Opposition. The states lost include Penang, Kedah, Selangor and Perak. All of which are the industrial and commercial hubs of Malaysia, the premier states.

At a personal level, the electorate did not return the President and Vice-Presidents of at least two influential component parties of the National Front and also kicked out some prominent "strong-men" in the main National Front partners.

I rejoice that Malaysians have stood up and given this country an opportunity to change and reform. I rejoice because Malaysia is making important steps towards true democracy and equal justice. I rejoice that Malaysians said no to old party politics, corruption, nepotism and to arrogant new generation politicians who think they were not answerable to the people.

Even though, Prime Minister Ahmad Badawi is presiding over the worst ever electoral result of his National Front party, he will be able to form the new Government but for the first time, with a credible opposition in parliament. Bearing in mind that in 1969, the ruling coalition only lost two states but the backlash resulted in ethnic violence that killed hundreds, I am glad that this time, the country showed enough maturity to avoid violence.

I think the police have done well in maintaining the peace and upholding the constitution and the electoral process and should be congratulated. I also think that Prime Minister Ahmad Badawi has done a great service to Malaysia for allowing this election to be relatively clean, for accepting the outcome of the election graciously and for allowing democracy a chance to blossom.

I believe in a Malaysia governed by a Prime Minister who is willing to listen to the opposition and the people or as we say in Malaysia, the "rakyat".

Wow, so this is how democracy feels like! It is a high. Now is the time to be thankful and work towards a better Malaysia for ourselves and all our children.

They Don't Make Them Like They Used To

Malaysia is heading into its 12th General Elections this coming weekend. For the last 50 years or so, the elected government has always been the National Front coalition of parties which include the Malay UMNO, the Chinese MCA and the Indian MIC amongst others. Malaysia is a multi-racial country with a cultural heritage and history which has seen huge contributions from each of its ethnic groups. It therefore seems fitting that a coalition of different ethnic parties should govern the country and bring it forward. This was a vision that many Malaysians bought into, the Malaysian dream.

In hindsight, it was probably not a good idea. The problem is that it still remains a coalition of ethnic based parties when what we should have been striving for were national parties that represented all Malaysians and not just their ethnic groups.

This election is also different in that many of the candidates standing for elections are young; the next generation of leaders - some in fact are the children of established politicians. However, instead of being a breath of fresh air and reform, they have for the most part made this the most depressing election yet for me.
They don't make them like they used to. This new generation candidate has turned out to be arrogant, rude and unclear about the principles of a democratic government.

Where at least their forefathers tried to woo the voters with sweet talk and promises, this new generation are showing their disdain for voters.

Here are some phrases from this new breed of politicians on the campaign trail that I have either heard or read about in the news.

"I don't care whether you vote for me or not. I do not need your votes."

"Don't talk to me about the issues now. I will meet with you after I win the election."

"We can win this election without the Chinese or Indian votes."

"I don't represent you. I represent the Party."

Wow. Way to win my vote.

Field Report on Manglish

"Perfessor Squirrel McNutts"
Foremost Field Anthropologist
Dear readers,
At almost no cost whatsoever, the Realm of the lone Grey Squirrel has managed to get world famous field anthropologist, "Perfessor" Squirrel McNutts, to send us his latest report from the field. "Perfessor" has just completed an extensive two day study of Malaysians. Here is his cutting edge report:-


Hello there. This is McNutts here, reporting in after a strenuous two full days in the jungles of Malaysia where I am studying that enigmatic human tribe called a Malaysian.

I have been paying particular attention to the sounds that they make. As you know squirrels all round the world speak a common language called "Chitterese", which is why world domination of the world by squirrels is just a matter of time. Humans, on the other hand seem to have developed a whole set of different "languages".

At first, the Malaysian human seemed to communicate through a series of rapid grunts and whistles but when you record it and then slow it down and play it backwards, it then sounds like some form of perverted English. Previous explorers have called it "Manglish". However, today, there is even a debate about the origin of the word "Manglish". Was it, as some believe, merely a contraction of the words "Malaysian" and "English"? Or could it be, as I believe, meant to describe how the English language had been mangled.

You decide. I have included a transcript of a recording made during this current expedition as well as my best translation into modern English.

Transcript:-
Subject 1: "Hey you guys doing what?"
Subject 2: "Nut'in, brudder. We lepak only-lah."
Subject 1: "The new James Bond movie is on now. You wanna see or not. I hear it is damn
shiok!"
Subject 3: "I wanted to go yesterday but no member-lah."
Subject 1: "Jom. I'll go buy tickets for the evening show."
Subject 3: "Can call the Tan sisters or not?"
Subject 1: "Why-ah?"
Subject 2: "Aiyoo! He like Jane Tan-lah! he is like basket case around her."
Subject 1: "Sure or not? Which one is Jane Tan-ah?"
Subject 2: "She's that small chilli padi in our English class."
Subject 1: "What-lah, man! That one already got boyfriend-mah."
Subject 2: "I already said. Some more, the boyfriend very jealous one and is a Jinjang Joe."
Subject 1: "Ya-lah! Don't play-play. There are lots more fish."
Subject 3: "Ooi, you guys don't give me problem-lah. Relaks, brudders. It's one movie only
what."
Subject 1: "Wah, like that all of us die-lah."


Traslation:-
Subject 1: "Hello, my dear fellows. May I enquire as to what you are doing at this moment?"
Subject 2: "We are doing nothing in particular, my friend. We are just hanging out together."
Subject 1: "In that case, would you both like to go to see the new James Bond movie which is
currently showing in the cinemas. I hear that it is fantastic."
Subject 3: "I had wanted to go yesterday but could not find any one to accompany me."
Subject 1: "Come on, then. I will buy tickets for us for the evening screening."
Subject 3: "Say, can we also invite the Tan sisters to join us?"
Subject 1: "Whatever for?"
Subject 2: "He is smitten with Jane Tan, that's why. He acts like a total imbecile whenever she is
around. "
Subject 1: "Is that really true? Who is this Jane Tan anyway?"
Subject 2: "She's that small and feisty girl in our English class."
Subject 1: "Good Heavens, man! She already has a boyfriend."
Subject 2: "I have already warned him that the boyfriend is the jealous type and that he is a real
thug."
Subject 1: "Exactly! Not someone to be trifled with or taken lightly. Besides, there are many
more attractive girls out there."
Subject 3: "I would appreciate it if you both drop this matter, get off my case and just calm
down. After all, I am only talking about asking her out for just one movie."
Subject 1: "You are going to get us all in to trouble."

Growing at the Time of the Dinosaurs

Way back in October 2007, I posted about my trip to Australia for my nephew's wedding. In that post, I mentioned that I "visited a beautiful garden and shared something with dinosaurs." The beautiful garden was the amazing Mount Tomah Botanical Gardens which I also described in a following post. However, I totally forgot to elaborate on what I shared with the dinosaurs, which brings us to today's post.

One of the key exhibits at the Mount Tomah Botanical Gardens is a tree whose closest relative is known only from fossils dating back some 2 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs.
It was discovered in 1994 by David Noble, a field officer of the Wollemi National Park in Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains, New South Wales. It was found in a difficult to reach valley whose exact location remains a closely guarded secret to help protect the remaining 100 or so trees of this species.

It was given the name Wollemia nobilis and is commonly known as the Wollemia Pine. It is however, in fact, not a pine but a conifer of the Araucariaceae family which includes the Kauri tree of New Zealand. Amongst its more interesting features is its dark knobbly bark which has often been described as resembling the Cocoa Pops cereal. The tree can grow to approximately 40 m high.


As a result of its status as a living fossil, there is much demand for the tree and a propagation program intended to supply botanical gardens has now successfully become a commercial venture. It is certainly one of the Mega-stars of the botanic world.

That being said, it was a little odd looking but after all that hype and anticipation, the experience was a little bit of an anti-climax. (all photos by LGS).

Blogging Mentor Award

My good friend, Josie of C'est la Vie, recently and very graciously bestowed on me this rather flattering award, "The Blogging Mentor Award". It appears that the award is in general for mentors, inspirations or people who have been encouraging to fellow bloggers to continue blogging or who are such characters that they are forces of nature in the blogosphere.

Wow! I am certainly pleased to be thought so highly by Josie as to get this award. The strange thing is that I would immediately name Josie as one of my blog mentors too. Before this degenerates into a meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society, if Josie thought that I was her mentor and I thought of Josie as my mentor, .......is this a case of the blind leading the blind?

Being a mentor is both a great responsibility and a great privilege. It implies both a certain stature and status but in the humble service of others. The originator of this award has used the imagery of a Greek philosopher mentoring his student or disciple. It is an imagery that captures the essence of mentoring. However, I hope that Josie does not expect me to follow in the footsteps of such greats as Plato who was forced to end his life by drinking poison because of what he taught.

But enough of this senseless chatter. I have appreciated everybody's input and encouragement since I started blogging. All of you, including some who have left the blogging scene, have been all part of my wonderful learning experience here. However, it is now my duty to pass this award on to 5 of my mentors. They are.....

1. Claudia. I have always felt that Claudia kind of "adopted" me and has made it her role to challenge me and probably all her other readers to expand our minds, our experience and our experimenting with this blogging media. She gets me in a lot of trouble but its all fun.

2. Meggie . I am always encouraged by Meggie's blog. Her stories are awesome and her characters really come to life. This have given me a desire to aspire to be as good a story teller too. I also remember her gracious defence of my complete ignorance and lack of appreciation of quilting. Who knows? Maybe one day, I'll quilt! Don't hold your breath though.

3. Jocelyn. Jocelyn's blog has just always been an inspiration for me. From her choice of name which is "O Mighty Crisis" to her posts on her work, family and travels, I am inspired by her humor, joy and positiveness in the face of the chaos that is life. She reminds me to have fun blogging.

4. Dave. Dave was probably one of my earliest blogging buddies and over time, I found that we had very similar interests and outlooks of life. We even had very similar ideas for blogging posts. This was, of course very encouraging to find someone who shared do much a common interest in the same things. However, Dave was more than that. He was very pro-active in giving encouragement in his comments and he was particularly supportive of my posts about my Christian faith.

5. Marja. Marja is a relatively recent acquaintance on the blogosphere but she is the essence of encouragement. I think she is a natural mentor and qualifies to be a force of nature in the blogosphere.

Falling

A song consists basically of a melody and lyrics. Add to that the nuances of arrangement and use of different musical instruments to create the emotive atmosphere for the songs message. The best songs are probably when all the elements combine and the sum becomes more than just the addition of its parts.

However, some songs have such powerful melodies and words that often the simplest presentation is best and where more complex arrangements and use of instruments merely detract from the songs elemental beauty. It would be like having the freshest fish but cooking it and smothering it with a strong tomato sauce until the natural sweetness of the fish is lost and overwhelmed.

And so in this manner, I occasionally come across a song which I like and which I find that the lyrics are special enough to hold my attention on their own. Many of Leonard Cohen's songs fit this category and I have posted on them before. More recently, I came across a song by Gretchen Peters which fits the bill too.

I have to say that I know next to nothing about Gretchen Peters other than that she is a singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. However this lyrics of this song just speaks volumes to me. The song has three verses and each verse seems to tell a totally separate story linked only by the fact that each of them is about an aviator and each of them is about parting. It is called the "Aviator's Song"

you fell out of the sky when you were 21

your bomber took a bullet from a german gun

did you think about your wife

your brief and tender life

did you pray to anyone?

chorus
how does it feel when you’re falling

can you hear sweet angels calling

is it empty up in space

did you touch god’s holy face

did you tremble, did you cry

did you fall or did you fly

you fell out of your life when you were 43

you saw her and you thought she was your destiny

you wandered from the path

and we cursed your aftermath

but that’s ancient history

chorus

you make it so damn hard to love you

i don’t know why i even try

and all i ever wanted of you

to take me with you when you fly

you fell out of my life one last time today

i held your hand and watched you as you slipped away

you cast your pilot’s eye to the endless open sky

and i sent you on your way

chorus


(Gretchen Peters was selected as the Folkwax 2007 Artiste of the Year. Keep an eye out for her as her star continues to climb. In the meantime, her songs (including The Aviator's Song) is playing on the LGS Radio located on the sidebar).

Squirrel's Secret Spot 11: Ribe, Denmark

There are many great cities to visit in Europe. However, to visit city after city can be all so tiring for a country squirrel like me. That is when a side detour to a small and hidden gem can be so refreshing. One such place is Ribe which is the oldest town in Denmark. It was founded in the early part of the 8th Century AD and was at that time a very important merchant port in Scandinavia.

Today, it is a small and quaint town without the plague of tourists that crowd the larger and better known cities. Nevertheless, a quick walk through its quiet and narrow streets reveal several interesting things about the town.

Located in south-west Jutland, this coastal town is surrounded by low sand dunes and serviced by canals. Tied up along the canal and near the middle of town is the ex-merchant ship which has been converted into a floating museum (below).


Ribe has a beautiful cathedral. I had just had my fill of the obscene opulence of some of the churches in Germany and by contrast, the simple elegance of Ribe Cathedral was refreshing. This looked like a living, serving church of God rather than some over done monument to man's wealth instead of God's glory. Below is a picture of the Cat's Head Door which actually is one of the oldest bronze doors in Denmark. On the door is the image of a lion's head surrounded by four dragons. It depicts the strength of the church in the midst of a hostile world.


Another interesting thing that you would notice as you walk about Ribe is that there are many storks which nests around the chimneys of houses in Ribe. That is quite a sight.

Perhaps the highlight of a visit to Ribe would be Ribehaus Castle Hill. The castle is long gone but what remains is a wild, windblown rise which is surrounded by a moat. As you wander the small island amidst the tall grasses, you will come across a strange and powerful statue of Queen Dagmar (below).


Queen Dagmar's statue shows her on a boat perhaps the boat ferrying her to the afterlife as the back of the statue shows a relief depicting her on her deathbed. Note that someone has put fresh flowers in her arms. Queen Dagmar is known to be a popular queen according to tradition and is clear that her popularity amongst the population remains even to this day.

Margaret Dragomir of Bohemia was the daughter of the Bohemian king, Premysl Ottokar I, and Adela of Meissen. In 1205, she was shipped to Ribe in great splendour to be married to the Danish King Valdemar the Victorious. In Denmark she was given the name Dagmar.
In 1209 she gave birth to a son, Valdemar den Unge (Valdemar the Young). In 1212, seven years after her arrival in Denmark, she died, and was buried in St. Bendts Church in Ringsted on Zealand.

However there are many traditional stories of her which paint her as a foreign woman who became the Queenand won the hearts of the Danish people through acts of kindness and charity. The legends tell of how the King rode with haste from a town 130 km away to be by her side at her deathbed in Ribe as soon as he heard that she was seriously ill. In his passion and grief, he outrode all the hundred soldiers escorting him and arrived in Ribe alone.

Alas, the story tells us that he arrived too late for she had died. However, she somehow mysteriously re-awoke to ask three promises of the King. The first was to release all the prisoners in jail. The second was that their youngest son should succeed him as King and the third was that he should not under any circumstances marry Berengaria, the daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal.

Legend tells us that he immediately set all the prisoners free. Unfortunately, history tells us he married Princess Berengaria two years later.

Ribe is rich in history and is a pleasant spot to wander around and to get away from maddening crowds. This squirrel recommends it.

(All photos by LGS)

A National Treasure Lost Too Early

The other night, I was watching a TV program called "Air Crash Investigations" which is a regular program that investigates the causes of certain significant air crashes. On this occasion, it featured the ill-fated Air Canada Flight 797 on 2nd of June 1983. This flight left Dallas, Texas and was supposed to land in Toronto, Canada. Unfortunately, a fire developed in one of the toilets and the whole cabin was enveloped in thick, acrid smoke. Despite these appalling conditions, the pilots managed to make a successful emergency landing in Cincinnati while the cabin crew succeeded in keeping the passengers calm and breathing from oxygen masks.

However, after landing, many passengers were unable to find the exits in the dark and smoke and succumbed to smoke inhalation. Adding to the problems, when the escape hatches did open, the fresh air entering resulted in a flash fire throughout the plane just a few minutes later. Basically, all the survivors were the ones who managed to get out in the first few minutes. 23 died and 23 survived. This was a significant event in aviation history because it was from this tragedy that the airline industry began many life-saving innovations such as lighted strips to guide passengers to the exits, smoke detectors in the toilets, non-toxic materials for the cabin and so on.

The program then went on to note that Canadian Folk singer Stan Rogers was one of those who perished that day. I never knew this fact. I had heard of Stan Rogers and I really liked his music but I never knew what happened to him.

My mind drifted back a full 26 years back in time. It was a cold, blustery and wet winter's night. It was past midnight but I was still up watching the sheets of rain coming down and listening to BBC Radio. There was an interesting program on which I had been following. It was a competition between the national radio stations of Britain, Canada and Norway. Each of them were given an opportunity to showcase their country through a one hour radio program every Saturday. At the end of the series, a panel of judges in each of the countries would vote for the best program.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) won the series with their entry which was an hour long travelogue of Canada represented entirely by the music and songs of Stan Rogers. I listened to the program and felt that I had discovered a priceless pearl. I have always enjoyed the melancholic Scottish laments and the lively Irish jigs but the music of Stan Rogers seemed to be a combination of both and yet more. I also found that I could really sense the essence and struggles of the people that he sings about. I was mesmerized.

I have kept an eye out for his music ever since but it is unfortunately difficult to find outside of Canada. Now I know what happened to him and can only think that it was a sad day that such life and potential was loss in that manner.

I wish I could play all his songs but I chose three to showcase here.

This first song was one that I heard 26 years ago and just gripped my heart with its poignancy. It tells of the brave men that died trying to find a Northwest passage through the artic ice to reach the Orient and how they inadvertently helped to build the nation. This was the best video I could find and happened to use footage from the TV series about a Canadian Mountie sent to Chicago to work with the American police, called "Due South". Obviously there is a clash of cultures and personalities and hilarity ensues. That's just background info. It's the song that is haunting.




This second song also represents the hardships of the Canadian worker so,so well. It is a touching lament and at the same time a stirring battle cry. i just love the words.




This third one is actually one that i have only recently heard. Daysgoby mentioned this in one of her recent posts saying "I'm a little surprised I wasn't required to learn it before they'd let me over the Nova Scotian border..." Indeed! Anyway, this is just a great lively song to compliment the slower songs above. You also get to hear Stan explain how he came about to write this song. Enjoy

Dreams and Re-Runs

"DreamCatcher" (unknown)

Somehow I have actually avoided posting on dreams until now. This maybe a sign that I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas. However, I am quite proud of my dreamscape. It is suitably weird, nutty and imaginative.

1. COLOUR
Unfortunately, like everything else in my life, I do not seem to have the latest technology to play with. So while most of the world is experiencing their dreams in High Definition Colour, I almost entirely dream in black and white or monochrome. For many years, I asked people if they dreamt in colour or were they a freak like me. I finally found a serious study that reported that 12% of the population does not dream in colour.

My dreams are almost always in black and white or occuring under low light situations like night-time so that everything is monochromatic or in shades of grey. In one very strange childhood dream (which occured long before Antz), I was a black army ant off to raid a red ant nest. Everything occurs at night and along dark tunnels in the soil and part of the problem was trying to recognise whether you had bumped into friend or foe.

I can only remember vividly one dream in colour. Again I was an ant but I was taking part in the ant Olympics and the swimming competition was held in something that strangely looked like the pool of water that appears in the corner of my garden when it rains. The swimming lane was separated by long strips of runner grass. I remember the water was a deep prussian blue and the strips of grass were a bright brown. It was spectacular.

2. RECURRING DREAMS
I have several recurring dreams but one is particularly unusual in that my elder brother (14 years older) also has this same dream recurring. My childhood home is completely surrounded by a garden with large trees. At night, it can be very dark outside with very little external light penetrating the tree foliage. There is one room (my brother's actually) that had the peculiar design in which there were two set of windows that were right angle to each other, just a couple feet from a corner of the room.

The dream will start with the TV or radio announcing that tigers and leopards have escaped from the zoo. I will then rush around closing the doors and windows of the house. As I do this, I can hear the breathing of the large cats outside in the darkness. The hair on the back of my neck will stand on end. But as I rush into this final room and reach to close the windows, it is too late. The powerful dark form of a leopard or a panther will brush me aside and land in the room. I would scream like a little girl and then, inexplicably the animal will jump out the other window. As I step back and watch, big cat after big cat will jump into the room through one window and then with a growl, jump back out the other window.

Any theories, o budding psychologists?

3. NIGHTMARES
I do have nightmares from time to time and they can be quite scary. But I have one recurring nightmare and again it involves panthers. In my dream, I am walking in a small group with my cousins along an actual road in my hometown. Suddenly all the traffic and pedestrians, everything except us, disappears. It also becomes dark as if it was the deepest night. All is dark except for a circle of light of about 20 feet diameter. This circle of light seems to be centred on the group; when we move, it moves along. When one of my dream cousins (read "dispendable") ventures too close to the edge of the light, a dark figure or a panther will reach in and snatch him/her into the darkness. There is a great amount of fear in the group. We can sense the creatures out in the dark circling us, occasionally catching a glimpse of their eyes in the darkness. In the nightmare, we know we have to travel some two kilometers to the safety of my house but as we do so we notice the circle of light get smaller as we move along. Will we make it? I never remember how it ends.

4. Favorite Dream
In my favorite recurring dream, I am in a magical fantasy world of broad grasslands with large variety of wildflowers, crossed by sparkling brooks and streams and scattered forest groves. In this world, I have wings. I don't really fly but I can soar and I can glide. I would use my legs to push off against the soft ground and that will enable me to glide over the earth for a minute or so before I touch the ground again. Push. Glide. Push. Glide. In this way I can travel effortlessly over the land and I feel exhilarated. My favorite dream. I always feel good when I wake up.

Dream analysts? What's your verdict?

My Dream House

I do not think that I am fussy nor demanding. In fact, I am fairly content and easily satisfied. I am not one of those who desires the fastest or most luxurious cars. Where some may pant after a Lamborghini or perhaps a Rolls-Royce, my dream car is nothing more exalted than the Volkswagen Golf Convertible and I am absolutely content with the Honda City that I do drive.

The same applies to houses. Sure, it would be nice to own a mansion or even just a large house but that really isn't important. Home is where you make it and a small studio apartment can be as happy a home as a big mansion. I do like water though. It would be nice if the house would be near water. I would sit on the porch and just watch the seasons change.

Nevertheless, if any of you kind folk can find a way for me to live at any of these places, I'd be much obliged. Thank you.

Somewhere in the Laurentians, Quebec

Somewhere on an island off Iceland

Somehere on a fiord in Norway

Would any of you like to be my neighbors?

Unburied Nuts from 15th January 2007 : Romance at the Speed of Light

In the last post, blackcrag suggested that his couple romance life resembled that of Pepe le Pew and the Black cat. It so happens Pepe and Ms. Cat helped me illustrate one of the early posts of this blog and I have decided to shamelessly recycle it here under my "Unburied Nuts" series.

Recently, Dave, managed to dig up an old advertisement poster where the Canadian Government tried to encourage women to go west and get married with statements like “anything in skirts stands a chance”. It of course reminded me of how different things are today. Women, for one would not stand for this kind of malarkey. We have all grown more mature as a global culture and are better educated on issues like etiquette, equality, respect and commitment. Yeah, right (sarcasm).

In today’s mad rush of living, is there time for love, romance and family? Many people are finding it hard to cope. Some caring governments are once again entering the fray to help out and surely the award for the most “caring” government goes to Singapore.

Singaporean professionals are too busy spending more hours than there are in a day, just to achieve the minimum 5 C’s required to enter the dating game. How are the poor dears ever going to find a match and get married? The super-caring Singapore Government has been in a huff and a puff over the fact that fewer citizens were getting married and many of them later in life. Even when married, the couples were not productive. According to statistics for 2002, Singaporean women give birth to 1.37 babies in a lifetime, down from 1.87 in 1990. Since a replacement level of 2.1 is required to keep a country’s natural population stable, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong elevated baby-making to a national priority. The concern was that the declining fertility rate would lead to economic crisis, increased security risk and political instability.

With admirable determination, the Singaporeans took action on bachelors and bachelorettes. In 1984, the Working Committee on Marriage and Procreation was formed with the task of increasing the birth-rate. Figuring that Singaporeans respond well to financial incentives, they introduced the “baby bonus’ incentives. I do not have figures to show how successful this program was.

This did not solve the issue of fewer and later marriages. Thus the Social Development Unit or SDU was formed which came out with 70 recommendations for increasing baby production. SDU was to succeed where earlier efforts failed because they would tackle issues like dating and matchmaking because as was said earlier, hardworking Singaporeans do not have time for such distractions. SDU’s efforts have earned them the nickname of Single, Desperate and Ugly.

Not swayed by such popular opinion, SDU went on to implement their plan which included compulsory dating courses in the first year of Universit, the “Love Boat Cruises” and the “Love Plane Flights” which include on-board lectures on seduction. The latter two, were subsidized holidays for singles and I believe, if any couple ended up getting married, the fare for the holiday was reimbursed.

Nowadays, Single, Desperate and Ugly hides behind their campaign brand of “Romancing Singapore” which organizes state-sponsored matchmaking events like speed dating (e.g. meet 6 guys/gals in 60 minutes), rock climbing for couples (an opportunity to get sweaty), love boat river race and midnight walks, just to name a few.

SDU produced an official eight-page guidebook called "When Boy Meets Girl! The Chemistry Guide” which teaches busy engineers and IT nerds how to court a girl, where to go, and what to do on a date.

Don't you hate it when

the chemistry's all wrong?

Singapore even has its own celebrity love guru, Dr. Wei, who also is known as Dr. Love. Dr. Love runs love cruises, Baby Planing Camps and was planning in 2004 to do an "edutainment" reality TV show called “Dr. Love’s Super Baby-Making Show”. This never materialized, perhaps because it went too far for “prudish” officials, despite Dr. Love’s assurance that it would be done very clinically. Hmmm, very romantic indeed.

And has all this government plotting worked? In 2003, Durex did a sexual habits survey amongst 34 nations and Singapore ranked last for the second consecutive time. With Singaporeans reported having sex less than 8 times per month on average or 96 times per year. For the curious, it was the Hungarians, fortified with spicy paprika that took first place with 152 rolls in the hay per year.

Alas, so sad to see the fine efforts of Single Desperate and Ugly produce such poor results. Perhaps the expert readers in the blogosphere can give some advice on how we can avoid a movie entitled, “The Last of the Singaporeans”.

"I am a Satire, yes?"