"Look, in particular, at the people who, like you, are making average incomes for doing average jobs--bank vice presidents, insurance salesman, auditors, secretaries of defense--and you'll realize they all dress the same way, essentially the way the mannequins in the Sears mens wear department dress. Now look at the real successes, the people who make a lot more money than you--Elton John, Captain Kangaroo, anybody from Saudi Arabia, Big Bird, and so on. They all dress funny--and they all succeed. Are you catching on?"
"In fact, most home projects are impossible, which is why you should do them yourself. There is no point in paying other people to screw things up when you can easily screw them up yourself for far less money."
"Then along came the first Electrical Pioneer, Benjamin Franklin, who flew a kite in a lighting storm and received a serious electrical shock. This proved that lighting was powered by the same force as carpets, but it also damaged Franklin's brain so severely that he started speaking only in incomprehensible maxims, such as 'A penny saved is a penny earned.' Eventually he had to be given a job running the post office."
"I disapprove of the F-word, not because it's dirty, but because we use it as a substitute for thoughtful insults, and it frequently leads to violence. What we ought to do, when we anger each other, say, in traffic, is exchange phone numbers, so that later on, when we've had time to think of witty and learned insults or look them up in the library, we could call each other up:
You: Hello? Bob?
Bob: Yes?
You: This is Ed. Remember? The person whose parking space you took last Thursday? Outside of Sears?
Bob: Oh yes! Sure! How are you, Ed?
You: Fine, thanks. Listen, Bob, the reason I'm calling is: 'Madam, you may be drunk, but I am ugly, and ...' No, wait. I mean: 'you may be ugly, but I am Winston Churchill and ...' No, wait. (Sound of reference book thudding onto the floor.) S-word. Excuse me. Look, Bob, I'm going to have to get back to you.
Bob: Fine."
"I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me."
"Ever since prehistoric times, wise men have tried to understand what, exactly, make people laugh. That's why they were called 'wise men.' All the other pre- historic people were out puncturing each other with spears, and the wise men were back in the cave saying: 'How about: Would you please take my wife? No. How about: Here is my wife, please take her right now. No How about: Would you like to take something? My wife is available. No. How about ...'"
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
2nd Oz Vacation
It has taken me a while to write down my holidays and since joining IBM, I realized that I didn't have that much time for myself and my writing. In my previous company when I started blogging, I had TONS of time. Where has it all gone?? Story of my life anyway.
Last December, our family together with my cousin KLY's family were at it again. We went on a holiday to Melbourne! That's right! That's 2 Aussie trips in 2 years. Looks like we can get enough of the sheep, billy tea and their G'day! This trip was for 11 days and we spent most of it on the road, traveling around the state and making a big round trip back to Melbourne.
We took the Great Ocean Road which was a coastal road with fantastic view and scenery of the ocean. A lot of people don't realize that the southern part of Australia opens up to the Antartic Sea, which means when it wants to, it can get FREAKING cold! We drove down Geelong and entered the Road and traveled along Apollo's Bay, Lorne and some other small coastal towns.
We ended up in Warnambool, spent a nite and then drove up to the Grampiens National Park. We stayed in the quaint tourist village of Halls Gap where wild kangaroos graze in front of your chalet at night and the night sky is littered with stars. The rock and mountain formations are in perfect harmony with the forest and rivers.
Halls Gap and Grampiens was a very good outdoor experience. We got nature, wild animals, good food, forest, brooks and most importantly, running water, TV, air conditioning and a proper bed. There is only so much wiping my ass with leaves or taking a dump by the river, that I wanna do in my lifetime.
After that we drove back to Melbourne via Ballarat. Other areas we came across was the "Puffing Billy" which is the only steam train in Australia and Philips Island where we watch the tiny penguins going to their burrows from the sea.
It was a good trip with a lot more variety and not just theme parks and zoos like the last trip. However, there was more traveling and transfer of hotels and that was a bit tiring. The currency exchange didn't help either so there was minimal shopping. Thank goodness we found some REALLY good Malaysian restaurants coz Aussie food really sucks. Only Aussie food I enjoyed was their "The Lot" burger which had everything but there is only so much burger you can take! I will be sharing our daily trip and some photos in the next few postings, so stay tuned!!
Last December, our family together with my cousin KLY's family were at it again. We went on a holiday to Melbourne! That's right! That's 2 Aussie trips in 2 years. Looks like we can get enough of the sheep, billy tea and their G'day! This trip was for 11 days and we spent most of it on the road, traveling around the state and making a big round trip back to Melbourne.
We took the Great Ocean Road which was a coastal road with fantastic view and scenery of the ocean. A lot of people don't realize that the southern part of Australia opens up to the Antartic Sea, which means when it wants to, it can get FREAKING cold! We drove down Geelong and entered the Road and traveled along Apollo's Bay, Lorne and some other small coastal towns.
We ended up in Warnambool, spent a nite and then drove up to the Grampiens National Park. We stayed in the quaint tourist village of Halls Gap where wild kangaroos graze in front of your chalet at night and the night sky is littered with stars. The rock and mountain formations are in perfect harmony with the forest and rivers.
Halls Gap and Grampiens was a very good outdoor experience. We got nature, wild animals, good food, forest, brooks and most importantly, running water, TV, air conditioning and a proper bed. There is only so much wiping my ass with leaves or taking a dump by the river, that I wanna do in my lifetime.
After that we drove back to Melbourne via Ballarat. Other areas we came across was the "Puffing Billy" which is the only steam train in Australia and Philips Island where we watch the tiny penguins going to their burrows from the sea.
It was a good trip with a lot more variety and not just theme parks and zoos like the last trip. However, there was more traveling and transfer of hotels and that was a bit tiring. The currency exchange didn't help either so there was minimal shopping. Thank goodness we found some REALLY good Malaysian restaurants coz Aussie food really sucks. Only Aussie food I enjoyed was their "The Lot" burger which had everything but there is only so much burger you can take! I will be sharing our daily trip and some photos in the next few postings, so stay tuned!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Elementary my dear Watson and some American sexiness
I don't know how many of you read Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and for those of you who have, I am sure you share my sentiment that his stories are SUPERBLY boring! Even my favourite "Hound of Baskervilles", was a relatively slow moving piece despite it having a large hound, horror and suspense to say nothing of a twist in the end.
I am not averse to slow detective fiction as Agatha's Christie egg-shaped Belgian, Hercule Poirot, is one of my favourite fictional characters. Maybe I have become very brain washed by American TV, Hollywood, wham-bam,thank you maam type of buckaroo movie styles.
So enter a VERY Hollywood Sherlock Holmes. I would not nearly have gone to see it, if it wasn't Iron Man...err....I mean Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock. In true American fashion, this version gave a very much alive, sexy and absolutely witty version of a supposedly very Victorian Sherlock Holmes. I give this 3 thumbs up and a fat toe....if I had 3 thumbs. It was a very enjoyable movie and while Downey Jr can be a very funny man, they did not overdo the wit and humour. They still gave glimpses of Holmes' uncanny eye for the detail and his amazing inhuman powers of observation and deduction.
I was not very impressed with Holmes' love interest and her role was really almost unnecessary. With or without her, the story will continue...well! Also Jude Law was just as interesting and successfully killing the stereotype of Dr. Watson as an elderly, slightly portly, gentleman. Jude was nothing of that of course and he managed to go toe to toe with Robert.
So all in all, a very enjoyable movie while I thought the story was relatively simplistic but then again Avatar was SOOOOOO much more lame in the story department. So do make the time for Sherlock and I can't wait to get my hands on the Hi-Def version. That's another blog for another day....Oh, Happy Belated New Year by the way!
I am not averse to slow detective fiction as Agatha's Christie egg-shaped Belgian, Hercule Poirot, is one of my favourite fictional characters. Maybe I have become very brain washed by American TV, Hollywood, wham-bam,thank you maam type of buckaroo movie styles.
So enter a VERY Hollywood Sherlock Holmes. I would not nearly have gone to see it, if it wasn't Iron Man...err....I mean Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock. In true American fashion, this version gave a very much alive, sexy and absolutely witty version of a supposedly very Victorian Sherlock Holmes. I give this 3 thumbs up and a fat toe....if I had 3 thumbs. It was a very enjoyable movie and while Downey Jr can be a very funny man, they did not overdo the wit and humour. They still gave glimpses of Holmes' uncanny eye for the detail and his amazing inhuman powers of observation and deduction.
I was not very impressed with Holmes' love interest and her role was really almost unnecessary. With or without her, the story will continue...well! Also Jude Law was just as interesting and successfully killing the stereotype of Dr. Watson as an elderly, slightly portly, gentleman. Jude was nothing of that of course and he managed to go toe to toe with Robert.
So all in all, a very enjoyable movie while I thought the story was relatively simplistic but then again Avatar was SOOOOOO much more lame in the story department. So do make the time for Sherlock and I can't wait to get my hands on the Hi-Def version. That's another blog for another day....Oh, Happy Belated New Year by the way!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Christmas, Christmas, time is near....and gone
It's another Xmas come and gone. This year, I didn't get to enjoy Xmas as much as part of the celebration and Xmas feeling came from the present-buying, clothes-shopping and the totally freaked out feeling that you have left out presents for someone. Which is just next to the anxiety of being TOTALLY broke.
Hey, Merry Xmas!
All said and done, it is a very special for me, always. Ever since I met my wife, Xmas gave me a new meaning and when I had kids, it was in a totally different stratosphere all together. This year, we had a BBQ party for my family members who visited from Kuantan and Singapore. We had something like 20 people putting up for 2 nights in my house. I have yet to check which part of my house is broken from the mayhem!
Despite the hassle and inconvenience of having my home invaded, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I love having them around and they are a lot of fun. So the party was also a great success with really well BBQ'd lamb, chicken, prawns and squid, with the normal stuff like rice, desserts and our Malaysian favourite, cendol! I had a cendol machine at my party! Quite cool hor!
I didn't get to take many pics since the BBQ smoke made the pics very fuzzy. Either that, I am not very good with my camera. I was also very pleasantly surprised to see the lights along Sunway Resort Hotel. Though it was not better than Orchard Road, it was a marked improvement definitely. The decor at Mid-Valley, Sunway Pyramid, 1Utama and Pavilion was also very creative and very warm. I am kinda sorry that I didn't get to see KLCC's decor.
Anyway, this year, I was more caught up with work. Having just came back from our family holiday, I had some work to do and was working until late on Xmas eve and almost miss Xmas mass. I am glad, I was still able to make time for my family during Xmas.
In this time of nostalgia, I wish that the worst of your tomorrows is like the best of your yesterdays.
Merry Xmas and Happy New 2010!!
Hey, Merry Xmas!
All said and done, it is a very special for me, always. Ever since I met my wife, Xmas gave me a new meaning and when I had kids, it was in a totally different stratosphere all together. This year, we had a BBQ party for my family members who visited from Kuantan and Singapore. We had something like 20 people putting up for 2 nights in my house. I have yet to check which part of my house is broken from the mayhem!
Despite the hassle and inconvenience of having my home invaded, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I love having them around and they are a lot of fun. So the party was also a great success with really well BBQ'd lamb, chicken, prawns and squid, with the normal stuff like rice, desserts and our Malaysian favourite, cendol! I had a cendol machine at my party! Quite cool hor!
I didn't get to take many pics since the BBQ smoke made the pics very fuzzy. Either that, I am not very good with my camera. I was also very pleasantly surprised to see the lights along Sunway Resort Hotel. Though it was not better than Orchard Road, it was a marked improvement definitely. The decor at Mid-Valley, Sunway Pyramid, 1Utama and Pavilion was also very creative and very warm. I am kinda sorry that I didn't get to see KLCC's decor.
Anyway, this year, I was more caught up with work. Having just came back from our family holiday, I had some work to do and was working until late on Xmas eve and almost miss Xmas mass. I am glad, I was still able to make time for my family during Xmas.
In this time of nostalgia, I wish that the worst of your tomorrows is like the best of your yesterdays.
Merry Xmas and Happy New 2010!!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Avatar - 15 years in the making
This was a real interesting movie and it was reported to be in the making for 15 years. Reason being the technology was not available for James Cameron to realize his story. I think that is just horse shit. I think James Cameron just got lazy and probably forgot about it because the story line was so predictably...well predictable. It was probably the year's most predictable and readable movie. You just knew what was going to happen next.
The bad guys cutting down the forest over some rare and expensive resource. Hero sent in to win over the locals who don't want to have anything to do with these short-ass, weird coloured and dress-funny creatures from the skies. Hero is part of the whole program until he meets and falls in love with native who JUST happens to be the chief's daughter and promised to another really cool and can-kick-your-ass dude!
He then turns and tries to save the locals and you just know he will fight the bad guy and you just know they will win.
That is not to say, the movie is without it's moments. The concept of the new planet and its inhabitants alone is very creative. These 10-feet tall, blue creatures can connect with most beings and trees in their planet. It's like they have this USB port that connects their beings with their surrounding animals and trees. Pretty cool on that! All in all a very enjoyable movie. There is a 3D version but I am not sure if that's a good idea as there are lots of movements, flying, running through forest real fast and action fighting.
The animals that they thought up was also very cool and superbly interesting. At least for me....or I could be just easily amused. Most of the ground animals have 6 legs. I am not sure what is the problem that they evolved to 6 legs.
With 3D, you may just barf all over the seat in front of you and just provide them with a shampoo of semi-chewed pop corns and still fizzling coke. So be strong if you wanna 3D. Otherwise stick to the conventional baby.
The CGI rendition did not replace the acting. In fact, CGI only provided the make up but the actors still moved and acted using motion sensors that captured their movement. That made the CGI rendering very realistic. So tech wise, it was pretty impressive.
So saddle and ride into the world of Pandora and the Ormaticaya (spelled something like this).
The bad guys cutting down the forest over some rare and expensive resource. Hero sent in to win over the locals who don't want to have anything to do with these short-ass, weird coloured and dress-funny creatures from the skies. Hero is part of the whole program until he meets and falls in love with native who JUST happens to be the chief's daughter and promised to another really cool and can-kick-your-ass dude!
He then turns and tries to save the locals and you just know he will fight the bad guy and you just know they will win.
That is not to say, the movie is without it's moments. The concept of the new planet and its inhabitants alone is very creative. These 10-feet tall, blue creatures can connect with most beings and trees in their planet. It's like they have this USB port that connects their beings with their surrounding animals and trees. Pretty cool on that! All in all a very enjoyable movie. There is a 3D version but I am not sure if that's a good idea as there are lots of movements, flying, running through forest real fast and action fighting.
The animals that they thought up was also very cool and superbly interesting. At least for me....or I could be just easily amused. Most of the ground animals have 6 legs. I am not sure what is the problem that they evolved to 6 legs.
With 3D, you may just barf all over the seat in front of you and just provide them with a shampoo of semi-chewed pop corns and still fizzling coke. So be strong if you wanna 3D. Otherwise stick to the conventional baby.
The CGI rendition did not replace the acting. In fact, CGI only provided the make up but the actors still moved and acted using motion sensors that captured their movement. That made the CGI rendering very realistic. So tech wise, it was pretty impressive.
So saddle and ride into the world of Pandora and the Ormaticaya (spelled something like this).
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Retro Astro
This week's movie review takes us a little bit back to our childhood as we view the remake of a Japanese boy superhero, called Astro Boy. It started way back in the 50s and appeared in TV and print sometime in the 60s....which was WAYYYYYY before I was born. By the time I was reading and writing, the novelty kinda wore off.
Picture this. The superhero has hair combed as if it had horns, flew around topless (what is up with that???), had red boots and look suspiciously like a youth that is VERY confused about its gender. Is it a boy? Is it a girl? Why does it have fake long eyelashes?? Come on, it's supposed to Japanese and they are NOT supposed to have long eyelashes.
The movie was actually very enjoyable though superbly predictable. It had family values, it had heart, it had some light moments, some crying moments, fun for the whole family. It takes some time talking about the creation of Astro Boy and how he was trying to fit into a very weird future world. Seeing the best of the world and the worst of it and coming to terms with it.
Of course there's a bad guy and of course Astro Boy kicked some astro butt...literally. He has machine guns....on his butt!!! That I didn't remember.
I watched the show with my family and Mikey's 5 friends! Their seats were 2 rows from us, so that we don't inflict on our son the parent's curse of embarrassing him by breathing. So dutifully we sat far away and watched the show together. Our son is growing up..*sniff*.
Thank goodness he is not going to grow on Astro Boy and start running around the house topless with some cheap prostitute's red boots.
Picture this. The superhero has hair combed as if it had horns, flew around topless (what is up with that???), had red boots and look suspiciously like a youth that is VERY confused about its gender. Is it a boy? Is it a girl? Why does it have fake long eyelashes?? Come on, it's supposed to Japanese and they are NOT supposed to have long eyelashes.
The movie was actually very enjoyable though superbly predictable. It had family values, it had heart, it had some light moments, some crying moments, fun for the whole family. It takes some time talking about the creation of Astro Boy and how he was trying to fit into a very weird future world. Seeing the best of the world and the worst of it and coming to terms with it.
Of course there's a bad guy and of course Astro Boy kicked some astro butt...literally. He has machine guns....on his butt!!! That I didn't remember.
I watched the show with my family and Mikey's 5 friends! Their seats were 2 rows from us, so that we don't inflict on our son the parent's curse of embarrassing him by breathing. So dutifully we sat far away and watched the show together. Our son is growing up..*sniff*.
Thank goodness he is not going to grow on Astro Boy and start running around the house topless with some cheap prostitute's red boots.
It's 14 years on
Today 2nd Dec is my 14th wedding anniversary. Yep, it's been that long. So what's the secret to a Chindian's happy marriage? There are 4 aspects that I would recommend and do allow me to share our Chindian secret to the world as this is one of our legacy to civilization.
A wedding is a one day celebration but a marriage is supposed to be for a lifetime but Hollywood spoils it for us. In the movies, it makes it look as if it's all a fairy tale and every wedding will turn out as a happily ever after kinda thing. Just like Cinderella. Now, don't get me wrong. I am all for a happy ending and Cinderella type of story and many times it does happen. However, for every Cinderella story there are millions of normal marriages that needs to be worked on.
For a marriage to work, you gotta want it bad because it's going to put up a fight and no one really knows how it will end up. The person you have been dating can change after the wedding and it's not because they are some Transylvanian vampire or king size dick head (though there are these permutations as well). People evolve and change but the main thing to understand is that while you may have new expectations, your partner may not. Don't take anything for granted because you are NOT living a Hollywood life. Maybe that's why so many celebrity marriages don't work....too much acting.
It was quite stormy for us at the beginning too. I thought I was too young and felt pushed into it. Also I just expected everything to fall into place but it doesn't. You are two different people suddenly thrown into the mix. You have different preferences for simple things like toothpaste or broom types and that can spark a war of epic proportions!! You can trust me. I'm a Chindian.
So both of us had our fair share of issues and fights and wars and showing each other the I-ignore-you look and giving each other the cold treatment. You know what's the best part? Kissing and making up. That's right! I said it!
After some months of fighting, we took a weekend off and had a very long and heart-to-heart chat about our issues and why I was acting like the world's stupidest mule and why was she acting like a prize winning pain-in-the-ass. It turns out, we just thought things were supposed to work out and when it didn't we took it out on each other. So that was cleared and we settled down to start a family and things kinda took off from there. Even if you have everything figured out right to the tee, there are still no guarantees.
Of course, our families and friends were there to support and most of the time, they didn't know what they were supporting. They were just there to keep us company, laugh, give subtle opinions over issues they didn't know existed. Most of the time, their company gave us a lot of insight and help us see things from very different vantage points.
Then our God's gifts came and they helped keep the foundation strong. Our children have been a great source of joy, love and inspiration. Being a husband and then a father was a whole new dimension for me and I glad Melissa, Michael and Amanda are there for me and sticking by me despite my failings. If I had to do it all over again, I will not change a single thing.
So what is the secret to a happy Chindian marriage??
1. Pray together
At home or church. Go together.
2. Laughter. Lots and lots of laughter (not to the point of insanity of course).
Learn to laugh at each other's mistakes, quirks and weirdness.
3. Compromising
Not your principles but on your likes and wants. You win some and you lose some.
4. Always, always, always, always age faster than your wife.
Good luck to you and I will write about our 15th year anniversary.
A wedding is a one day celebration but a marriage is supposed to be for a lifetime but Hollywood spoils it for us. In the movies, it makes it look as if it's all a fairy tale and every wedding will turn out as a happily ever after kinda thing. Just like Cinderella. Now, don't get me wrong. I am all for a happy ending and Cinderella type of story and many times it does happen. However, for every Cinderella story there are millions of normal marriages that needs to be worked on.
For a marriage to work, you gotta want it bad because it's going to put up a fight and no one really knows how it will end up. The person you have been dating can change after the wedding and it's not because they are some Transylvanian vampire or king size dick head (though there are these permutations as well). People evolve and change but the main thing to understand is that while you may have new expectations, your partner may not. Don't take anything for granted because you are NOT living a Hollywood life. Maybe that's why so many celebrity marriages don't work....too much acting.
It was quite stormy for us at the beginning too. I thought I was too young and felt pushed into it. Also I just expected everything to fall into place but it doesn't. You are two different people suddenly thrown into the mix. You have different preferences for simple things like toothpaste or broom types and that can spark a war of epic proportions!! You can trust me. I'm a Chindian.
So both of us had our fair share of issues and fights and wars and showing each other the I-ignore-you look and giving each other the cold treatment. You know what's the best part? Kissing and making up. That's right! I said it!
After some months of fighting, we took a weekend off and had a very long and heart-to-heart chat about our issues and why I was acting like the world's stupidest mule and why was she acting like a prize winning pain-in-the-ass. It turns out, we just thought things were supposed to work out and when it didn't we took it out on each other. So that was cleared and we settled down to start a family and things kinda took off from there. Even if you have everything figured out right to the tee, there are still no guarantees.
Of course, our families and friends were there to support and most of the time, they didn't know what they were supporting. They were just there to keep us company, laugh, give subtle opinions over issues they didn't know existed. Most of the time, their company gave us a lot of insight and help us see things from very different vantage points.
Then our God's gifts came and they helped keep the foundation strong. Our children have been a great source of joy, love and inspiration. Being a husband and then a father was a whole new dimension for me and I glad Melissa, Michael and Amanda are there for me and sticking by me despite my failings. If I had to do it all over again, I will not change a single thing.
So what is the secret to a happy Chindian marriage??
1. Pray together
At home or church. Go together.
2. Laughter. Lots and lots of laughter (not to the point of insanity of course).
Learn to laugh at each other's mistakes, quirks and weirdness.
3. Compromising
Not your principles but on your likes and wants. You win some and you lose some.
4. Always, always, always, always age faster than your wife.
Good luck to you and I will write about our 15th year anniversary.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Congratulations Visitor No. 2000!
I don't know who you are unfortunately but visitor No. 2000 to my site is from Singapore. I am not sure if you visited here accidentally or you enjoy my postings or you came here to vandalize. Whatever your intentions, I wish you all the best, leave comments and I hope you enjoy my postings!!
Woohoo!! As a token of my appreciation, you can have the Hope Diamond or something from the Vatican Archives! Good day!
Woohoo!! As a token of my appreciation, you can have the Hope Diamond or something from the Vatican Archives! Good day!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
A Father Forgets.....
I was brought up in a Chindian family that was both strict and conventional. Which meant my dad and mom was not afraid of killing my brother or me.
"If I get rid of one, I will make another one. And I will tell the new one what an idiot the first one was." - Russell Peters
So, we didn't really get words of encouragement that didn't include threats of medieval torture at worst and disowning at best. We didn't really understand what disowning really meant. We were confused because we knew it meant we won't be staying with our parents, which wasn't all that bad, but could we come back for food and clean clothes?
We also didn't get hugs and comforted when we were sad, because they didn't really know how to do it. My son got his first major government exam this week and I was disappointed. He had 2 C's and I was very downcast. I mean, I had straight A's and I was not known to get C's. While I was not exactly a genius, I was well above average.
Then I came across and article in a book I was reading. It was written by Livingstone Larned. It was an article that opened my mind and my heart.
Listen, son; I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.
There are things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.
At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"
Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road, I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your friends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!
Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped.
You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.
Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding - this was my reward to your for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.
And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of yours was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!
It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy - a little boy!"
I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.
I did not realize the pain he has gone through and his own disappointment of having disappointed me. How unfair and easy I was to judge him as an adult when he is only a 12 year old boy, going through a Chinese education system when we don't speak Mandarin as our first language. When he had to sit through 2 additional papers than other schools and when he actually brought home 3 As and 2 Bs.
Tomorrow, I buying him his own 50" LED TV and PS3.
"If I get rid of one, I will make another one. And I will tell the new one what an idiot the first one was." - Russell Peters
So, we didn't really get words of encouragement that didn't include threats of medieval torture at worst and disowning at best. We didn't really understand what disowning really meant. We were confused because we knew it meant we won't be staying with our parents, which wasn't all that bad, but could we come back for food and clean clothes?
We also didn't get hugs and comforted when we were sad, because they didn't really know how to do it. My son got his first major government exam this week and I was disappointed. He had 2 C's and I was very downcast. I mean, I had straight A's and I was not known to get C's. While I was not exactly a genius, I was well above average.
Then I came across and article in a book I was reading. It was written by Livingstone Larned. It was an article that opened my mind and my heart.
Listen, son; I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.
There are things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.
At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"
Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road, I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your friends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!
Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped.
You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.
Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding - this was my reward to your for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.
And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of yours was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!
It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy - a little boy!"
I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.
I did not realize the pain he has gone through and his own disappointment of having disappointed me. How unfair and easy I was to judge him as an adult when he is only a 12 year old boy, going through a Chinese education system when we don't speak Mandarin as our first language. When he had to sit through 2 additional papers than other schools and when he actually brought home 3 As and 2 Bs.
Tomorrow, I buying him his own 50" LED TV and PS3.
The End is NEAR!!! - 2012!!!
Be warned, the apocalypse is nigh! Three years from now, untold disaster will strike. Human civilisation will come crashing down and the world as we know it will shatter under the weight of our vanities. Our cities will crumble, as our culture grinds itself to dust and mass hysteria consumes the last paltry scraps of social sustainability.
No, it's not the London Olympics or Oprah Winfrey going off the air. It's just the end of the world as we know it.
Haha! I thought that was a good opening line.
To begin with, it was a week of fear and uncertainty for this Chindian family. First of all we were all waiting for Michael's UPSR results which is a child's first major government exams. It's for those who are in Standard 6 or Primary 6. So naturally as a 21st century 12 year old, this exam anxiety doesn't mean much to them. It's just an exam and our parents will understand regardless of their results. After all, look at dear old dad accidentally pouring salt into his coffee instead of sugar. So dad has a major anxiety attack lasting all week. You see, I was brought up in an environment that would have had my dad arrested for child abuse today. If your results were horrific, you will be punished and possibly murdered and buried. If caught, the judge who is also a father, would acquit my dad. Heck, he may ordered me exhumed, resurrected and killed again.
Secondly, despite that, we thought we will go watch a movie to see what the end of the world is like in 3 years. A movie called 2012.
The movie pays tribute to the Mayan culture that actually calculated this destruction or renewal of the earth, centuries ago. So in 2012 the planets will once again align as they do every 26,000 years, give or take. Which is cue for Gaia (look it up, I ain't gonna explain everything!!!) to shake some serious booty!
What supposedly happens is, the solar explosions on the surface of the sun bombards earth with radioactive super neutrinos which boils the earth's core. With the core boiling and its lava shifting all over the place, it loses it's ability to hold on to the surface's tectonic plates. Hence earth's plates starts shifting, and not the 1/2 inch per year but like 1,500 miles in 12 hours.
So what was once the Pacific ocean, becomes mainland China. The tsunamis bury everything up to Tibet and makes the sea level a few hundred feet below Everest's summit. And then, large giant trees come out to fight Orcs and Nazgul's so that the white wizard will not be able to support Saruman. To defeat him, we will have to wait for the Starship Enterprise which will send GI Joes into the earth's core to stop Gaia from kicking out butt.
SLAAAAAAAPPPPPPPP!!!! WOW!! Thanks, I needed that.
So the tectonic plates moves and boundaries as we know it are gone while a few thousand people float towards Africa to start a new life since Hollywood loves irony. It is also a concept about human greed and what they will do to save themselves. I won't give away some of the premise but save to say, it's a movie heavy on special effects. It's just as interesting (and similar) to Day After Tomorrow.
It retrospect, it probably wasn't so smart to watch 2012 in a week where my nerves were jangling at the end of my finger tips. It made me more nervous when reading about earthquakes in Indonesia or floods or fires or whatever disaster that was cropping up in the world. So this week, I decided not to watch the news or read the papers. So if they do decide to award Hindraf and every Indian in Malaysia USD 1 Million, drop me a note in my postbox. Provided the neurtinos don't fry you first.
No, it's not the London Olympics or Oprah Winfrey going off the air. It's just the end of the world as we know it.
Haha! I thought that was a good opening line.
To begin with, it was a week of fear and uncertainty for this Chindian family. First of all we were all waiting for Michael's UPSR results which is a child's first major government exams. It's for those who are in Standard 6 or Primary 6. So naturally as a 21st century 12 year old, this exam anxiety doesn't mean much to them. It's just an exam and our parents will understand regardless of their results. After all, look at dear old dad accidentally pouring salt into his coffee instead of sugar. So dad has a major anxiety attack lasting all week. You see, I was brought up in an environment that would have had my dad arrested for child abuse today. If your results were horrific, you will be punished and possibly murdered and buried. If caught, the judge who is also a father, would acquit my dad. Heck, he may ordered me exhumed, resurrected and killed again.
Secondly, despite that, we thought we will go watch a movie to see what the end of the world is like in 3 years. A movie called 2012.
The movie pays tribute to the Mayan culture that actually calculated this destruction or renewal of the earth, centuries ago. So in 2012 the planets will once again align as they do every 26,000 years, give or take. Which is cue for Gaia (look it up, I ain't gonna explain everything!!!) to shake some serious booty!
What supposedly happens is, the solar explosions on the surface of the sun bombards earth with radioactive super neutrinos which boils the earth's core. With the core boiling and its lava shifting all over the place, it loses it's ability to hold on to the surface's tectonic plates. Hence earth's plates starts shifting, and not the 1/2 inch per year but like 1,500 miles in 12 hours.
So what was once the Pacific ocean, becomes mainland China. The tsunamis bury everything up to Tibet and makes the sea level a few hundred feet below Everest's summit. And then, large giant trees come out to fight Orcs and Nazgul's so that the white wizard will not be able to support Saruman. To defeat him, we will have to wait for the Starship Enterprise which will send GI Joes into the earth's core to stop Gaia from kicking out butt.
SLAAAAAAAPPPPPPPP!!!! WOW!! Thanks, I needed that.
So the tectonic plates moves and boundaries as we know it are gone while a few thousand people float towards Africa to start a new life since Hollywood loves irony. It is also a concept about human greed and what they will do to save themselves. I won't give away some of the premise but save to say, it's a movie heavy on special effects. It's just as interesting (and similar) to Day After Tomorrow.
It retrospect, it probably wasn't so smart to watch 2012 in a week where my nerves were jangling at the end of my finger tips. It made me more nervous when reading about earthquakes in Indonesia or floods or fires or whatever disaster that was cropping up in the world. So this week, I decided not to watch the news or read the papers. So if they do decide to award Hindraf and every Indian in Malaysia USD 1 Million, drop me a note in my postbox. Provided the neurtinos don't fry you first.
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