Friday, March 19, 2004
Funny that I should be thought of as some one who might be able to contribute to a blog, granted that i don't really write much and say even less. I guess I'm one of those thinker-ponderer types. I think a lot more than I say and say a lot less than I think. This can be quite detrimental at times. But that's another story.
So now that i'm pretty much put in a position by my kind host to talk about 'stuff'; i'm going to tell you a little story that happened last weekend. My clients, colleagues and I were sent off into the sweltering heat of the Brunei tropical rainforests under the promise that we would "have fun and build friendships" that would last us a lifetime. Teambuilding they call it.
Everything was cool until the final activity just before heading back to the city. We had to ride this rubber dinghy down the main river. Now, this river looks a lot calmer on the surface than it actually is. I know this first hand because the day before, I strapped on a lifejacket and proceeded to float down the river, and put myself at the mercy of the currents and rocks. The river was inviting. Clean and cool. And fast.This sounded like a good idea at the time. Wrong. Floating along, everything was ok until i realised that I could no longer touch the ground. Heck knows how deep it was... fifteen, thirty, ninety feet, as long as i had my spiffy jacket, i would be safe. Wrong again. Because trying to swim to the riverbank was near impossible. You could flail your arms like a true champ, only to find yourself not being able to overcome the sweeping currents. At best, you would just stay in one spot, hands and feet in perfect swimming form, but not being able to ignore the slow, creeping acidic burn building up in every muscle cell. And at worst, you'd be swept away into the deep unknown depths, an all-enveloping murky darkness; cool water filling your lungs. All the while thinking if this is how fishes felt.
Swept away I was. Past the other guys that managed to struggle ashore, past the waiting boatman, past the last tree branch that would be my saviour (i actually managed to grab it, only to be pulled under by the rushing waves). This good idea turned bad really fast. I remember having three distinct thoughts as I was being carried away by the river:
1. This is pretty cool!
2. I'm scared.
3. I'm gonna die.
And by some miracle, past the last bend of rushing water and craggy rocks, I was swept aground. The distinct sensation of gravel on butt could not be more welcomed at that point. Most of us got washed up there; tired, exhilirated and scared pretty much out of our wits. Of course being the guys that we are, we got on our feet and talked about it like it was a walk in the park.
To be continued...
So now that i'm pretty much put in a position by my kind host to talk about 'stuff'; i'm going to tell you a little story that happened last weekend. My clients, colleagues and I were sent off into the sweltering heat of the Brunei tropical rainforests under the promise that we would "have fun and build friendships" that would last us a lifetime. Teambuilding they call it.
Everything was cool until the final activity just before heading back to the city. We had to ride this rubber dinghy down the main river. Now, this river looks a lot calmer on the surface than it actually is. I know this first hand because the day before, I strapped on a lifejacket and proceeded to float down the river, and put myself at the mercy of the currents and rocks. The river was inviting. Clean and cool. And fast.This sounded like a good idea at the time. Wrong. Floating along, everything was ok until i realised that I could no longer touch the ground. Heck knows how deep it was... fifteen, thirty, ninety feet, as long as i had my spiffy jacket, i would be safe. Wrong again. Because trying to swim to the riverbank was near impossible. You could flail your arms like a true champ, only to find yourself not being able to overcome the sweeping currents. At best, you would just stay in one spot, hands and feet in perfect swimming form, but not being able to ignore the slow, creeping acidic burn building up in every muscle cell. And at worst, you'd be swept away into the deep unknown depths, an all-enveloping murky darkness; cool water filling your lungs. All the while thinking if this is how fishes felt.
Swept away I was. Past the other guys that managed to struggle ashore, past the waiting boatman, past the last tree branch that would be my saviour (i actually managed to grab it, only to be pulled under by the rushing waves). This good idea turned bad really fast. I remember having three distinct thoughts as I was being carried away by the river:
1. This is pretty cool!
2. I'm scared.
3. I'm gonna die.
And by some miracle, past the last bend of rushing water and craggy rocks, I was swept aground. The distinct sensation of gravel on butt could not be more welcomed at that point. Most of us got washed up there; tired, exhilirated and scared pretty much out of our wits. Of course being the guys that we are, we got on our feet and talked about it like it was a walk in the park.
To be continued...
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Giachomo Puccini composed Turandot in hoping that it will be his last "grand opera". The majestic song , "Nessun Dorma" (none shall sleep), echoes probably the most evocative composition of the early 1900. Of course , not many people know that the completion of its entirety was not done by the great maestro himself. Of course, that did not stop its meteoric rise into the books of the greatest songs of all time.
Its a very interesting song to say the least, with metaphors strewn everywhere throughout the song. After the legendary cry of ,"
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!" by Calaf as he muses with the words of Princess Turandot who had earlier on decreed that no one in Peking shall sleep until Calaf's real name has been found. Yup, leave it to the Italians to come up with something like that.
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
Now, the metaphor of cold room is interesting. Apparently from what I read, fredda stanza do not 100% translates to cold room per se. But like all operas during those days, most of the words are perhaps being derived from slangs or ethnic languages(?). But the description of cold room serves well with this current situation where the Princess is thought to be cold and cruel and therefore it aptly refers to the state of her heart. And in some translations, they substituted the room with veil. Once again, refering to the princess's general attitude towards Calaf.
The remainder of that stanza goes like this followed by the chorus and the 2nd stanza:
guardi le stelle
che fremono d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun sapra!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diro
quando la luce splendera!
Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love
and hope!
But my mystery is hidden within me,
My name no-one shall know, no, no!
I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!
And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!
The next metaphor refers to the phrase 'Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio' (And my kiss will break the silence). Now, the princess is not mute or anything. From what I read, it was a metaphor to refer to his own vow to not reveal his name (and thus causing one of his servant girl, Liu, to perish in the hands of Turandot. Liu, whose steadfast loyalty and love for Calaf shared the same vow with Calaf). And of course, once the name has been revealed at sun dawn, Turandot have no choice but to choose Calaf.
(Il nome suo nessun sapra!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)
This part of the lyrics is the least consistent part of the song. Some recordings chose not to sing it, preferring the shimmering of the strings playing the melody out. So far, I have only heard 2 recordings sung those words out by a female choir. I'm not sure of why this inconsistency appeared in the first place.
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincero!
Vincero! Vincero!
Vanish, o night!
Fade, stars!
Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win!
I shall win! I shall win!
The grandest part of the song where Calaf proclaimed that he will win at sun dawn. Again, it is more metaphoric rather than actually refering to the changing of the day/night. Calaf was never going to force the Princess to marry him, therefore he gave the Princess the escape-clause. When he mentioned about the stars and night and dawn, he was merely refering to his task of winning the Princess over with his sincerity and love.
Its a very interesting song to say the least, with metaphors strewn everywhere throughout the song. After the legendary cry of ,"
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!" by Calaf as he muses with the words of Princess Turandot who had earlier on decreed that no one in Peking shall sleep until Calaf's real name has been found. Yup, leave it to the Italians to come up with something like that.
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
Now, the metaphor of cold room is interesting. Apparently from what I read, fredda stanza do not 100% translates to cold room per se. But like all operas during those days, most of the words are perhaps being derived from slangs or ethnic languages(?). But the description of cold room serves well with this current situation where the Princess is thought to be cold and cruel and therefore it aptly refers to the state of her heart. And in some translations, they substituted the room with veil. Once again, refering to the princess's general attitude towards Calaf.
The remainder of that stanza goes like this followed by the chorus and the 2nd stanza:
guardi le stelle
che fremono d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun sapra!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diro
quando la luce splendera!
Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love
and hope!
But my mystery is hidden within me,
My name no-one shall know, no, no!
I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!
And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!
The next metaphor refers to the phrase 'Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio' (And my kiss will break the silence). Now, the princess is not mute or anything. From what I read, it was a metaphor to refer to his own vow to not reveal his name (and thus causing one of his servant girl, Liu, to perish in the hands of Turandot. Liu, whose steadfast loyalty and love for Calaf shared the same vow with Calaf). And of course, once the name has been revealed at sun dawn, Turandot have no choice but to choose Calaf.
(Il nome suo nessun sapra!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)
This part of the lyrics is the least consistent part of the song. Some recordings chose not to sing it, preferring the shimmering of the strings playing the melody out. So far, I have only heard 2 recordings sung those words out by a female choir. I'm not sure of why this inconsistency appeared in the first place.
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincero!
Vincero! Vincero!
Vanish, o night!
Fade, stars!
Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win!
I shall win! I shall win!
The grandest part of the song where Calaf proclaimed that he will win at sun dawn. Again, it is more metaphoric rather than actually refering to the changing of the day/night. Calaf was never going to force the Princess to marry him, therefore he gave the Princess the escape-clause. When he mentioned about the stars and night and dawn, he was merely refering to his task of winning the Princess over with his sincerity and love.
From Matrix revolutions, the lyrics to Neodaemmerung (played during the big showdown between Smith and Neo) are actually taken from the Upanisads. The first verse:
asato my sad gamaya
tamaso my to jyotir gamaya
mrtyor mamrtam gamaya
From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality.
etc....
Thats interesting, because the upanisads, Brhadaranyaka, Isa, Mundaka, Katha, and all the others, are the end of the Vedas, and is the source of Vedanta philosophy, aka science of self-knowledge. essentially the universe we experience is not real, and there is a higher truth to be perceived linked with divinity ... we are ignorant to our true nature and the goal of the self is an understanding of our true nature, and in that way, "free" ourselves, achieve a "higher state of consciousness". sounds very matrixy-y doesnt it. as I read this, i recall Plato's theory of forms, albeit somewhat different, its got the same idea of the illusion of our pereption, that what we perceive are merely shadows of what is real, what is perfect.
These are the most sacred text of hindhuism ..
found this quote:
"The Absolute Consciousness is the fundamental cause of the universe and everything in it. It is free and perfect, unlimited by time, space, and causation. The individual Consciousness or the Self which appears to be limited by time, space, and causation is also free and perfect. It has come from that Absolute Consciousness. When a competent aspirant learns this from a teacher and discriminates the Self from the non-self, he comes to know that he is fundamentally that Absolute Consciousness Itself—ever pure, free and perfect."
sounds very morpheus-ish, doesnt it? actually i remember in Queen of the Damned ie from the Anne Rice vampire chronicles, they used Vedanta as well, "Akasha", the mother and source of all vampires, is actually a vedanta word that refers to the source of all matter in the universe.
Katha Upanisad 6.7
indriyebhyah param mano
manasah sattvam uttamam
sattvad adhi mahan atma
mahato vyaktam uttamam
Beyond the senses is the mind, and beyond the
mind is reason, its gasoline. Beyond reason is
the Spirit in man, and beyond this is the Spirit
of the Universe, the evolver of all.
asato my sad gamaya
tamaso my to jyotir gamaya
mrtyor mamrtam gamaya
From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality.
etc....
Thats interesting, because the upanisads, Brhadaranyaka, Isa, Mundaka, Katha, and all the others, are the end of the Vedas, and is the source of Vedanta philosophy, aka science of self-knowledge. essentially the universe we experience is not real, and there is a higher truth to be perceived linked with divinity ... we are ignorant to our true nature and the goal of the self is an understanding of our true nature, and in that way, "free" ourselves, achieve a "higher state of consciousness". sounds very matrixy-y doesnt it. as I read this, i recall Plato's theory of forms, albeit somewhat different, its got the same idea of the illusion of our pereption, that what we perceive are merely shadows of what is real, what is perfect.
These are the most sacred text of hindhuism ..
found this quote:
"The Absolute Consciousness is the fundamental cause of the universe and everything in it. It is free and perfect, unlimited by time, space, and causation. The individual Consciousness or the Self which appears to be limited by time, space, and causation is also free and perfect. It has come from that Absolute Consciousness. When a competent aspirant learns this from a teacher and discriminates the Self from the non-self, he comes to know that he is fundamentally that Absolute Consciousness Itself—ever pure, free and perfect."
sounds very morpheus-ish, doesnt it? actually i remember in Queen of the Damned ie from the Anne Rice vampire chronicles, they used Vedanta as well, "Akasha", the mother and source of all vampires, is actually a vedanta word that refers to the source of all matter in the universe.
Katha Upanisad 6.7
indriyebhyah param mano
manasah sattvam uttamam
sattvad adhi mahan atma
mahato vyaktam uttamam
Beyond the senses is the mind, and beyond the
mind is reason, its gasoline. Beyond reason is
the Spirit in man, and beyond this is the Spirit
of the Universe, the evolver of all.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
I got this from the ending credits of Max Payne 2 , arguably one of the best third person shooters :
in our headlights, staring bleak, beer cans, deer's eyes
on the asphalt underneath, our crushed plans and my lies
lonely street signs, powerlines, they keep on flashing, flashing by
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye
your breath hot upon my cheeck, and we crossed, that line
you made me strong when I was feeling weak, and we crossed, that one time
screaming stop signs, staring wild eyes, keep on flashing, flashing by
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye
the devil grins from ear to ear when he sees the hand he's dealt us
points at your flaming hair, and then we're playing hide and seek
I can't breathe easy here, less our trail's gone cold behind us
till' in the john mirror you stare at yourself grown old and weak
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye...
I like the part where it mentioned about the devil grinning ear to ear, God Willing ?? Think again.
oh well, just 7 more days till pay day...URGH....
in our headlights, staring bleak, beer cans, deer's eyes
on the asphalt underneath, our crushed plans and my lies
lonely street signs, powerlines, they keep on flashing, flashing by
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye
your breath hot upon my cheeck, and we crossed, that line
you made me strong when I was feeling weak, and we crossed, that one time
screaming stop signs, staring wild eyes, keep on flashing, flashing by
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye
the devil grins from ear to ear when he sees the hand he's dealt us
points at your flaming hair, and then we're playing hide and seek
I can't breathe easy here, less our trail's gone cold behind us
till' in the john mirror you stare at yourself grown old and weak
and we keep driving into the night
it's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye...
I like the part where it mentioned about the devil grinning ear to ear, God Willing ?? Think again.
oh well, just 7 more days till pay day...URGH....
heh heh
chinese chick: I'm a pure chinese girl
you: If pure chinese girls don't screw, then why are there so many chinese people in the world?
chinese chick: ...... *blank* *
* insert possible response:
a) i stupid lor
b) i boring mah
c) hah?
chinese chick: I'm a pure chinese girl
you: If pure chinese girls don't screw, then why are there so many chinese people in the world?
chinese chick: ...... *blank* *
* insert possible response:
a) i stupid lor
b) i boring mah
c) hah?
You know..when Forrest Gump mentioned ," Life is like a box of chocolates ", I think he meant to end it with , " You'll never know when it will screw you upside down".
Right, so life sucks,coupled with an irritating, clue-less loan officer who was trying so adamantly to explain that she is soooo stupid.
That's when you know you have hit rock bottom. Period.
And to top it off, there's bound to be some girl who will answer your question about carnal knowledge with this answer ," I'm a pure chinese girl" .
Sometimes I wish I don't have to experience it first hand...
Right, so life sucks,coupled with an irritating, clue-less loan officer who was trying so adamantly to explain that she is soooo stupid.
That's when you know you have hit rock bottom. Period.
And to top it off, there's bound to be some girl who will answer your question about carnal knowledge with this answer ," I'm a pure chinese girl" .
Sometimes I wish I don't have to experience it first hand...
chinese chick: I boring mah!
me: You're boring eh?
chinese chick: just now
me: so you're saying you're a boring person?
chinese chick: sumtims
I don't think she's getting what i'm getting at. can we say communication breakdown?
or maybe I stupid lor
me: You're boring eh?
chinese chick: just now
me: so you're saying you're a boring person?
chinese chick: sumtims
I don't think she's getting what i'm getting at. can we say communication breakdown?
or maybe I stupid lor
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
My own welcome to the world of blogging...
Now I really gotta find something to write about. Oh well, it will come...sooner..later....whenever
I know I'm kinda out-dated but what the heck..
Cheers
Now I really gotta find something to write about. Oh well, it will come...sooner..later....whenever
I know I'm kinda out-dated but what the heck..
Cheers
