Jai guru deva om

We all need someone/somebeing to look up to.


Across the Universe by The Beatles

Words are flowing out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting through my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as they make their way
across the universe

Nothing's gonna change my world



Cover by Fiona Apple

In the Year 2525

By Zager and Evans

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find

In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies
Everything you think, do, or say
Is in the pill you took today

In the year 4545
Ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes
You won't find a thing to do
Nobody's gonna look at you

In the year 5555
Your arms are hanging limp at your sides
Your legs not nothing to do
Some machine is doing that for you

In the year 6565
Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife
You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too
From the bottom of a long black tube

In the year 7510
If God's a-comin' he ought to make it by then
Maybe he'll look around himself and say
Guess it's time for the Judgement day

In the year 8510
God's gonna shake his mighty head
He'll either say I'm pleased where man has been
Or tear it down and start again

In the year 9595
I'm kinda wondering if man's gonna be alive
He's taken everything this old earth can give
And he ain't put back nothing

Now it's been 10,000 years
Man has cried a billion tears
For what he never knew
Now man's reign is through
But through the eternal night
The twinkling of starlight
So very far away
Maybe it's only yesterday

The Feather

At the Conference "Living with the Earth" organized by the Intercultural Institute of Montreal in Canada, an Indian Canadian, Al Hunter, spoke about the symbolic meaning of the feather :

"When I speak in my language, I’ve been taught to introduce myself by telling you my name. In English, the closest translation would be "whirlwind".
My totem, my clan, is the caribou.

The name of the land where I come from speaks of the river.
These feathers that I carry were given to me about ten years ago when I started on a journey to reclaim who I am.
These feathers are very sacred because they come from the bird that flies highest in the sky and that is very important to us - the eagle.

I take them with me wherever I go.

And I hold them whenever I speak, because they give me strength.
They give me the ability to speak from my heart, to speak honestly, and to speak without anger, so as not to hurt anyone.
I can tell you a story from these feathers. These are not just feathers. The middle bone is the path that we walk.
It could be a path; it could be a river. You can call it whatever you want.
All these off-to-the-sides are the choices that we have, but there is always this bone to which they are attached.
For us, it is called "the red road", the road our fathers and forefathers have tried and which shows us the way.

Over the last five hundred years we have been told that this "red road" is no longer there, that our ways are no longer valid, that our ways are no longer alive.
And when that did not work, our language was taken away from us by force.
My own family and relatives tell me stories of when they went to school, when the people came to our communities and just took the young children, and the young babies. They stole them ! And they brought them to the school. They were beaten when they spoke their language.
They had never heard English in their life, but they were beaten when they tried to speak their language. This history is common, whether it was the Anishnawbe, or the Maori in New Zealand, or the people in Australia, or anywhere.
They wanted us to stop having our ceremonies. They wanted us to stop singing our songs. They wanted us to stop teaching our children about our connection to the earth.

What has sustained indigenous people all these centuries ?

Language. Music. Stories. That’s what has sustained us.

It has not been NGOs. It has not been organizations.

What has sustained us is the bone of the feather, and our choices which were connected to it. This is why I am still here."

Nine Million Bicycles

Love.
Either you believe in it, not at all.
And if you do.
It's a fact.
Either you accept it , or not at all.
Is love complicated?
Do you believe in it?
Do you accept it?
then the answer is clear.
But never deny it.




There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That's a fact,
It's a thing we can't deny
Like the fact that I will love you till I die.

We are twelve billion light years from the edge,
That's a guess,
No-one can ever say it's true
But I know that I will always be with you.

I'm warmed by the fire of your love everyday
So don't call me a liar,
Just believe everything that I say

There are six BILLION people in the world
More or less
and it makes me feel quite small
But you're the one I love the most of all

We're high on the wire
With the world in our sight
And I'll never tire,
Of the love that you give me every night

There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That's a Fact,
it's a thing we can't deny
Like the fact that I will love you till I die

And there are nine million bicycles in Beijing
And you know that I will love you till I die!

Beauty of Nature

Live for the Future

Live for the future says the Optimist.
Live in case of the future says the Pessimist.
The hoary mist hangs idly on choices,
Wafted on the breeze like sheep's wool on barbed wire.
To be decisive when indifference becomes a bore;
To direct randomness through one gilded doorway
While rejecting another whose paint itches and peels;
To select the berry which lodges no grub:
Here is the province of magistrates and infants,
One using ossified nouns, the other rashness and greed.
But there is too much ego and too much id,
Too much black and white for my grey indolence.
How much more like Nature to drift with tide and wind,
To swirl with the other dust and filth,
To find a personal place in that kaleidoscope
Among the crackling leaves and dry stones,
Skipping an honest freedom between society's stilletoed heels,
Ignorant of cycles slumping past in the gutter press.

Live for the past says the Reactionary.
Die for the future says the Revolutionary.
In a while we must present our mean lives to Death.
Must we then live a death in our present?
Listen for the call of an unborn heart
To penetrate the crimes of ages past.
Hear the impassioned prayer of one to come,
One who is many, and not yet to blame.
Hark to the pleas of the seed of mankind:

Live until the future: none can say more.
Die only to end life, and gild another door.

Luke Mastin - June 1981

Speed of Sound

How long before I get in?
Before it starts, before I begin?
How long before you decide?
Before I know what it feels like?
Where To, where do I go?
If you never try, then you'll never know.
How long do I have to climb,
Up on the side of this mountain of mine?

Look up, I look up at night,
Planets are moving at the speed of light.
Climb up, up in the trees,
every chance that you get,
is a chance you seize.
How long am I gonna stand,
with my head stuck under the sand?
I'll start before I can stop,
before I see things the right way up.

All that noise, and all that sound,
All those places I got found.
And birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds came flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand?

Ideas that you'll never find,
All the inventors could never design.
The buildings that you put up,
Japan and China all lit up.
The sign that I couldn't read,
or a light that I couldn't see,
some things you have to believe,
but others are puzzles, puzzling me.

All those signs, I knew what they meant.
Some things you can invent.
Some get made, and some get sent,
Ooh?
Birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds came flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand,
ah, when you see it then you'll understand?




I come before you at the speed of light.
But my ideas at the speed of sound.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

By F. Scott Fitzgerald
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/Fitzgerald/jazz/benjamin/benjamin1.htm

Life can only be understood backward
Yet...
It must be lived forward.

December.

Post F1: Tell Laura

Tommy: Tell Laura I Love Her (Ray Peterson)


Laura: Tell Tommy I Miss Him (Skeeter Davis)

The creation of the Universe

One Second before the big bang.
http://www.mandala-corporation.com/movie/bigbang.html

Frequency Bands

Well at least the music is quite nice. =)
Try this website: http://gogglestare.com/


And the truth of things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5IkCzvioTc&feature=related

Res3ia

One
.
One by one the steps unfolded
Like pennies from heaven.

Like turning the tuning knob of a radio
Until you hit just the right frequency.

The infinite template opened up
A symmetry beyond all human understanding.

With no step ever repeating its previous path
The hidden structure never seen.

Without a guiding hand until the end of time
A sight that would haunt any man.

Symmetry and asymmetry as one.

Walking on the Milky Way

Now something for me.
Working with youth has aged me, but yet given much youthful vigor.
I have come so far despite.
But time is only fleeting.
And experiences carry you through.
It has shaped you but not defeated you.
Just remember who you are, always.




Walking on the milky way by OMD

When I was only seventeen
My head was full of brilliant dreams
My heart would call and I would gladly go
At twenty one the world was mine
And I was yours and youre divine
And nothing else would matter to us so
I dont believe in destiny
I dont believe in love
I dont believe that anything will ever be enough...

As time goes by reality
Destroys your hope and dignity
Theres nothing left but shadows on the wall
But just remember who you are
And where youve been youve come so far
And never ever let them see you fall
I dont believe in miracles
I dont believe in truth
I dont believe that anything can recreate your youth

Man you should have seen us
On the way to venus
Walking on the milky way
It was quite a day hey hey...
Walking on the big stuff
Acting like were real tough
Baby we were on our way

So what do you say hey hey

Let Me Fall

Do you know why it is okay to sigh, to cry, to run, and worst of all, fall?



Let me fall
Let me climb
There's a moment when fear
And dreams must collide

Someone I am
Is waiting for courage
The one I want
The one I will become
Will catch me

So let me fall
If I must fall
I won't heed your warnings
I won't hear them

Let me fall
If I fall
Though the phoenix may
Or may not rise

I will dance so freely
Holding on to no one
You can hold me only
If you too will fall
Away from all these
Useless fears and chains

Someone I am
Is waiting for my courage
The one I want
The one I will become
Will catch me

So let me fall
If I must fall
I won't heed your warnings
I won't hear

Let me fall
If I fall
There's no reason
To miss this one chance
This perfect moment
Just let me fall

Speaking out For the silent majority

Speaking out For the silent majority

What the Singaporean needs is more public debate of policies harmful to him, particularly among establishment insiders.

By Seah Chiang Nee May 31, 2008

AT A time when troubled Singaporeans need more sympathetic elite figures to voice their unhappy feelings against the government, along comes the state's retired top civil servant.

He is 70-year-old Ngiam Tong Dow, a prominent member of Singapore's founding generation, who has delivered a series of remarkably biting messages for the leadership, young and old.Singapore is not known as a place where influential people openly discuss government shortcomings, let alone criticise these.

Many do not speak out even when they feel things are not going right for fear of upsetting the leaders, particularly Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

An exception was Ngiam, who said in a recent dialogue that most of today's younger ministers come from well-to-do or upper-class families."So they 'really do not know' the impact of, say, a policy such as a 10-cent bus fare rise on ordinary families," he said."If you're from a poor family like my generation, you'll know very well (the impact) if the bus fare goes up by 10 cents, multiply by three or four times, 50 cents for the whole family."

His suggestion: top civil servants should first start by doing 'nitty-gritty' work on the ground before being slotted to make policies.On a previous occasion he warned against bureaucratic inertia."The greatest danger is we are flying on auto-pilot. What was once a great policy, we just carry on with more of the same, until reality intervenes," he noted.Then arrogance!

"There is also a particular brand of Singapore elite arrogance creeping in," he said. "Some civil servants behave like they have a mandate from the emperor. We think we are little Lee Kuan Yews (without earning our spurs)."

Ngiam speaks with the knowledge of an insider. He has served in the elite Singapore Administrative Service for more than 40 years, and played a major role in transforming Singapore into a textbook case in development economics.

A lesser mover is Tan Kin Lian, the former chief of Income, the insurance arm of the official National Trade Unions Congress.Tan used his web-blog to campaign against his former company's move to restructure bonus payouts for life policies that works against holders.

And two years ago, Lee Kuan Yew's daughter Associate Professor Lee Wei Ling went public to criticise Singapore's multi-billion dollar biomedical research strategy as being badly misdirected.It was spending large sums on cancer, heart disease and stem cells, with the setting up state-of-the art laboratories and pulling in top brains from around the world.Lee, who is Director of the National Neuroscience Institute, said it was pointless to compete with the top Western research centres doing the same thing with bigger budgets and longer experience.Instead, she said, Singapore should concentrate on niche areas with relevance to Asia, like hepatitis and head injuries.When the government rejected her call, Lee vowed to carry on her fight for change. "We're talking about billions of dollars in taxpayers' money," she said. "I will not let this mistake continue."It was a rare public debate of top policy-makers. Few, however, believe that Lee's daughter will get into trouble for speaking her mind.

Most other disagreements within the establishment are almost always kept within the four walls, away from the public.What the average Singaporean wants is more licence for public debate of policies harmful to him – particularly among establishment figures.There has, however, been a gradual opening up in the past decade.To the younger citizens, however, Singapore's "soft authoritarianism" is less than what they want or what a creative modern city should be.

All these years the ruling People's Action Party and the civil service have laid claims – through super high salaries – to some of the state's best educated.The majority settle into their careers without wanting to rock the boat, even when they disagree with a government policy.

In the course of the years, however, there had been a few exceptions of outspoken government people.Three years ago, East Coast MP Tan Soo Khoon accused the government of waste in spending billions to build new luxurious buildings, which he termed the "Seven Wonders of Singapore".Likening seven new lavish offices to five-star hotels, Tan asked whether these ministries and statutory boards were competing to see "which can be better than the Four Seasons Hotel".During the years of strong growth, money was easy to come by and it was easy to spend. "Only now, when it has become difficult, we begin to sit up and take notice," Tan chided the government.In the 2006 election, 33% of the votes went to the opposition, but it managed to win only two seats – or 2.4% – of the 84 seats in Parliament.

With such a lop-sided representation, it is imperative that this large opposition bloc has public figures to speak up for them outside the realm of politics.Being from the inside, retired or current members of the government are best suited to contribute meaningful discussions because of their inside knowledge.Ngiam's act of speaking out is widely admired. He says what many Singaporeans want, if they could.Asked in an interview whether Singapore would survive Lee Kuan Yew, he said, "Yes, provided he leaves behind the right legacy."And what is that? Ngiam was asked."It's for him to say, but I, a blooming upstart, dare to suggest to him that we should open up politically and allow talent to be spread throughout our society so that an alternative leadership can emerge," he replied.

(This was first published in The Star, Malaysia on May 31, 2008)

I have not verified this. Can you?

Sweet Dreams

Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused

I wanna use you and abuse you
I wanna know what's inside you
(Whispering) Hold your head up, movin' on
Keep your head up, movin' on
Hold your head up, movin' on
Keep your head up, movin' on
Hold your head up, movin' on
Keep your head up, movin' on
Movin' on


By Eurythmics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8pGJFwI_tM&feature=related

By The Kransky Sisters


By Marilyn Manson



Funny how perspectives changes meaning.

The Kransky Sisters

Extremely humorous live. First time I've encountered such a performance.
A real eye opener and refreshing change to a musical interpretation.

Witty puns laced throughout
interactive
Thematic
Story board Valueadded Musical presentation
gothic humor
Creative interpretation and performance

Pop Music


The Sound of Silence


Intuition


Abracadabra


Highway to Hell

Performances

Air Supply
Judy
Kransky Sisters
Elton John Live
Broadway Beng
Sean Kingston
Chinese
Beauty World
Engelbert Humperdinck
Chinese

CRX Del Sol

http://www.japnuts.com/Recent_Imports/Pictures/CRX_delsol_front.jpg
http://www.kris.1000lecie.pl/delsolpics2/Honda%20CRX%20del%20Sol%20eurospec%20red%20fsv%20high%201998.jpg
http://centrocristales.net/osc/images/honda-crx-del-sol-%20TANGO.jpg
http://www.edmunds.com/honda/civicdelsol/1993/consumerreview.html
http://lifestyletvoffenbach.magnify.net/item/VPF60RTP1HFT5FW6
http://www.fueleconomydb.com/index.php?-action=list&-table=vehicles_summary&make=HONDA&model=CIVIC+DEL+SOL


http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/writeup.php?AID=68
http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/writeup.php?AID=18
http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/writeup.php?AID=20

The Rest is Still Unwritten

Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten




I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten, yeah

Oh, oh

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines, oh yeah yeah
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way oh, oh


Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live you life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

This is how I feel - Animation Vs the Animator

Its an antagonizing thing.
Life is.
Only when you examine it.
What was it that socrates said again?
Yes this is what makes it worth living!
Who is the creator of life?
What is the meaning of a life lived?




Can't seem to get Elton's song out of my head. Can't sleep at night.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

This has been playing in my head over and over.
Only the English writes songs like this.


When are you gonna come down
When are you going to land
I should have stayed on the farm
I should have listened to my old man

You know you can't hold me forever
I didn't sign up with you
I'm not a present for your friends to open
This boy's too young to be singing the blues

So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough

Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road

What do you think you'll do then
I bet that'll shoot down your plane
It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics
To set you on your feet again

Maybe you'll get a replacement
There's plenty like me to be found
Mongrels who ain't got a penny
Sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground

Elton John's Concert in Singapore 7 May 08

Amazing how an operation on the throat changes the voice of a man.
And thank God for the Ang Mos. They really created the mode/atmosphere needed for a concert.
ANd yes we love the Piano man more than the Rocket man.
Change may not always go well for some.

How to rock:


His encore piece:


With the Muppets in 1973


With Billy Idol a few years back.


Time takes a toll on most. But not this guy.

Distribution and layout. Contrasts.

Such a pity.
Loneliness is.
Was excited and alive.
Yet all crumbed down.
Once again.
Why won't anyone listen?
- because we're all busy.
With what?

Man corner everynight. Full Tatoos beat me up.
Coffeshop Guitarist. Wow!
Church temple mosque temple church.
Taximan and woman.
33 cars in wait. Out of place woman.
perpendicular 33 old houses and ghost! Dragon Slab!

24a Scrap yard and hokkien. Karaoke in silence.
28 street sleaze
24 squatters and night life. Hotel and homes. Single File. All races. Indians. Africans. Thai. Malaysian cars.Gambling. Blue/Red top.
Barber, walk up apartments. For sale.
Jigong!

Pimp it up dress code.
Street walkers, freelancers and pros.
Pecs why not not otherwise?
Army Brudder!
Price Range.
VCD DVD
Ugly.
trans. Sari. Jeans. Old.
Huay Kuans and pugilistic clan associations.
Altars at every counter.

I can understand.
Why.
Simple.
Life is.

Keep on Walking

Walking gets you places.
Gets you numb while in transit.
From place to place.
Day by day.
Activity to Activity.

Yet,
if your legs leads you along aimlessly.
Just let it go.
It refreshes the mind.
Takes away your burden of choice.
You can ponder as your eyes wonder.
Of the stories of life.
Yours and those whose existence
whom you otherwise would have never acknowledged.
intertwined possibly in some obscure way.
Mysterious yet familiar.
Makes you feel alive.

Napier Road, orchard
Armenian Street, orchard
Serangoon road, Jalan Besar
River Valley, Cantonment ,Tanjong Pagar, Peninsuala Plaza, South Bridge
Sunset Way, Old Abandoned Railway
Princep Selegie
Serangoon Tekka
Balestier
Stadium Geylang

Life is like Photography

Focus, Exposure, Color, contrasts and noise.
Life is like photography.

Get a clear focus --> otherwise all will be a blur.
Get the correct exposure. --> In order to reproduce/create the correct representation of what's truly out there.
Ensure contrasts --> so that it will not be monotonous
Reduce noise --> no distractions.

But then again, photography is an art.
out of focus shots, incorrect exposure, lack of contrasts, lots of grain and noise if used purposefully, can create a beautiful picture too!

To pen down every thought, inspiration.
And especially experience.
Like the Spatial Conference I attended.
The old guard IS dying.
Soon there will no longer be any records.

Ekistics

kistic Elements: Nature, Anthropos, Society, Shells, and Networks
Arcologies
Arcosanti
+15

The Dreams of My Heart

The dreams of my heart and my mind pass,
Nothing stays with me long,
But I have had from a child
The deep solace of song;

If that should ever leave me,
Let me find death and stay
With things whose tunes are played out and forgotten
Like the rain of yesterday.

Sarah Teasdale


When others read my blog, I develop a nagging fear, yet with a deep rooted excitement.
The thrill of understanding, or misunderstanding.