Ah!!! I have just finished watching this anime today... after so long, (it's released in year 2004)
OK... if I were to compare, Miyazaki Hayao's latest 2 animation, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle, I prefer the previous one... as... for some reason, I didn't quite like Sophie (Howl's Moving Castle)
However... woo!!! ^_^ maybe one of the reason I didn't like Sophie, is because, I have fallen for Howl as well ^_^V
He is just too, PRETTY!!!
This anime is partly based on the fantasy fiction by Diana Wynne Jones, "Howl's Moving Castle", but Miyazaki Hayao definitely has interpreted it in the most beautiful and fantasy way... whatever you can imagine, he has it in the anime, whatever things that you cannot imagine, he has them there too ^_^
The part I like the most is when Howl first appeared in the show(immediately, Choong's nose-bleed)... when Sophie was stopped by some armies on the street, and suddenly this extremely cute handsome guy came from above (as a wizard, Howl can fly, and he can transform to other forms of life too) and rescued her from the 'harrassment'...
then, he brought her to a cool flying journey above the town where she lives... that time, there were parade, and parties on the street... I have to say, Miyazaki Hayao is really very imaginative... if I were to ask to visualise my dream, I will not be able to do so... ^_^ that's why, Miyazaki Hayao IS there, and I AM here ^_^V
Sophie... is a very cheerful girl... why?
well... when she was casted the spell by the Witch of the Waste, from a beautiful young youthful lady (even though she actually thought that she is never a beautiful girl, and she is somehow depressed with her progressing life, ie.keep the business running for the hat shop, the shop that's left by her deceased father and that, she cannot really do what she wants for her life) to a 70-80-year-old grandma...
OH!! if it's me... frankly, I was a little bit shock, when I saw that scene... cos, I didn't expect she'll be transformed to such an old grandma, just within that few second (I didn't read the sypnosis of the story)
if it's me, I guess, I will just sit there and cry for the next few days... it's a scary idea... I mean, turning old within one night...
but then, Sophie immediately got up and went out, to look for what she wants...
before she started her adventurous journey, she(as a old lady) said, "the benefit of being such an old lady, is that, you have nothing much to loose anymore"
(the next "benefit" that she later mentioned, is that, "you won't be frightened that easily anymore")
Then... she ended up entering Howl's Moving Castle...
and began her life/interaction with Howl...
Sophie has always been very inferior about her look (as she claimed, not beautiful, but then... I also think that, she's not one of those big eyes, outstanding personality, glamour type of girl, ya, even though it's just an animation...)
so, when she's in her OLD GRANDMA self, she actually is more natural, even when facing Howl, her prince charming... as she said, "there's nothing to loose", and due to the spell, she couldn't tell anyone that she's THAT YOUNG sophie...
Anyway... I am not going to write out the full story of this show... right?? ^_~;;
When I was watching this show... I was like... OVERJOYED!!! ^_^
cos... err... what can one does, to have my FAVOURITE Christian Bale, and my FAVOURITE Kimura Takuya together...
well... even thought they're not literally 'together'
but they are the voice cast for Howl...
see... Howl is already so charming, hearthrobbing...
IMAGINE!!! when it's with Kimura's voice or when it's with Christian Bale's voice... gosh!!! (nose-bleed again!!)
however... as I said, for some reason, I didn't quite like the younger Sophie, she was a little bit too reserved, and err... too not-outgoing... (???)
but there're 2 characters who are very cute in the show, one is Calcifer (the fire demon that has a contract with Howl) and Markl, the little boy who follows and lives with Howl, he called Howl teacher... (not that I get to see Howl teaches he anything)
and I have to stress that, ooh... the voice cast (japanese) for Markl, is my favourite boy, Kamiki Ryonosuke...
Hai... then, I have to say again... what else can be better??? ^_^
2006-09-30
2006-09-28
Kill Bill Vol.1
Last night I finally have a look at what "Kill Bill" really is like ^_^
I hate to say, it's actually a pretty fun and entertaining show.... despite the fact that, there are SO many killings inside the show, and it's typically, a very gory show... however... not that, I have not seen any gory show before, so, "Kill Bill" is kinda within my limit...
Furthermore, when it came to the major 'massacre' near the ending... Quentin Tarantino changed the whole scene to black & white, therefore, we did not get to see all the bulky and major bloodshed ^_^
I wouldn't say I like the show, but ya, it's entertaining... and it's somehow a familiar type to me...
first, it's staged in Japan, something that I am always fascinated about...
second, it's a game type of show...
I am sure that while directing the show, Quentin Tarantino was enjoying it a lot...
cos, the whole show is basically crazy, unrealistic, manga-like, and wild...
People were killed in all different way, if you can imagine... but I am sure, Quentin Tarantino is one with extremely good imagination...
hands chopped off, legs chopped off, man cut into half, head chopped while at the meeting table, The Bride (Uma Thurman) swung a piece of wood with nails into the female student's head to kill her, then, we saw her face, like those typical ghost stories---blood came out from the eyes, mouth and so on...
whatever you can imagine, and whatever you can't imagine, is there...
as I said, Quentin Tarantino must have enjoyed the show... -.- sickly!!!!
who will enjoy seeing people being killed, happily? right??
for some reasons, it's enjoying, however, for some reasons... you've to be a little bit sick to enjoy directing it, acting out all your killing imagination...
However... for me to find it enjoyable, as it's really so NOT REAL...
even the way people are killed is, most of the time not real... (95% not real, I reserve 5% for it POSSIBLY can be real, who knows?? I do believe, there's nothing that cannot happen in this world)
especially the last scene... when O-Ren(performed by Lucy Liu)'s head, only the tip of the skull, ie. just the scalp part, was chopped off by The Bride (Uma Thurman)...
then, with the scalp wide opened, she still said, "Now I believe, the samurai sword was made by Hattori Hanzo!!"(apparently a man who's very good at weilding good sharp samurai sword)
I knew it's kind of a gory show, but then, I didn't find it too gory, as, it's very manga-like... and when I saw O-Ren with her gang, walking into the bar/restaurant, I laughed... cos, it's very typical of japanese scene... where they like to put the 'leader' of a group(be it doctors in big hospitals, gigolos in Shinjuku, policemen, etc.) walking in front, and then, the whole group of his/her followers behind, marching in...!! it's just so ridiculous and funny!!
Even the way they did the soundtrack, was like telling you, "hey, just sit back and relax, and enjoy the show"... on fighting scenes, you can hear old japanese lady singing... or, on group fighting scene, you'll hear some light music in the air... I barely heard any heart thropping, or heart-throbbing soundtrack...
^_^V
I hate to say, it's actually a pretty fun and entertaining show.... despite the fact that, there are SO many killings inside the show, and it's typically, a very gory show... however... not that, I have not seen any gory show before, so, "Kill Bill" is kinda within my limit...
Furthermore, when it came to the major 'massacre' near the ending... Quentin Tarantino changed the whole scene to black & white, therefore, we did not get to see all the bulky and major bloodshed ^_^
I wouldn't say I like the show, but ya, it's entertaining... and it's somehow a familiar type to me...
first, it's staged in Japan, something that I am always fascinated about...
second, it's a game type of show...
I am sure that while directing the show, Quentin Tarantino was enjoying it a lot...
cos, the whole show is basically crazy, unrealistic, manga-like, and wild...
People were killed in all different way, if you can imagine... but I am sure, Quentin Tarantino is one with extremely good imagination...
hands chopped off, legs chopped off, man cut into half, head chopped while at the meeting table, The Bride (Uma Thurman) swung a piece of wood with nails into the female student's head to kill her, then, we saw her face, like those typical ghost stories---blood came out from the eyes, mouth and so on...
whatever you can imagine, and whatever you can't imagine, is there...
as I said, Quentin Tarantino must have enjoyed the show... -.- sickly!!!!
who will enjoy seeing people being killed, happily? right??
for some reasons, it's enjoying, however, for some reasons... you've to be a little bit sick to enjoy directing it, acting out all your killing imagination...
However... for me to find it enjoyable, as it's really so NOT REAL...
even the way people are killed is, most of the time not real... (95% not real, I reserve 5% for it POSSIBLY can be real, who knows?? I do believe, there's nothing that cannot happen in this world)
especially the last scene... when O-Ren(performed by Lucy Liu)'s head, only the tip of the skull, ie. just the scalp part, was chopped off by The Bride (Uma Thurman)...
then, with the scalp wide opened, she still said, "Now I believe, the samurai sword was made by Hattori Hanzo!!"(apparently a man who's very good at weilding good sharp samurai sword)
I knew it's kind of a gory show, but then, I didn't find it too gory, as, it's very manga-like... and when I saw O-Ren with her gang, walking into the bar/restaurant, I laughed... cos, it's very typical of japanese scene... where they like to put the 'leader' of a group(be it doctors in big hospitals, gigolos in Shinjuku, policemen, etc.) walking in front, and then, the whole group of his/her followers behind, marching in...!! it's just so ridiculous and funny!!
Even the way they did the soundtrack, was like telling you, "hey, just sit back and relax, and enjoy the show"... on fighting scenes, you can hear old japanese lady singing... or, on group fighting scene, you'll hear some light music in the air... I barely heard any heart thropping, or heart-throbbing soundtrack...
^_^V
2006-09-20
Footprints in the Sand - Mary Stevenson, 1936
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”
_____
Mary Stevenson, 1936
ps: apparently there are 3 versions that I can find from the internet, however, I chose to post this one, as it's much simpler, and I think, simple things are always nicer and sweeter.. ^_^
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”
_____
Mary Stevenson, 1936
ps: apparently there are 3 versions that I can find from the internet, however, I chose to post this one, as it's much simpler, and I think, simple things are always nicer and sweeter.. ^_^
THE TALE OF THREE TREES
THE TALE OF THREE TREES
A Traditional Folktale Retold by Angela Etwell Hunt.
Materials From "The Tale of Three Trees", Chariot Victor Publishing, Copyright 1989.
A Traditional Folktale Retold by Angela Etwell Hunt.
Materials From "The Tale of Three Trees", Chariot Victor Publishing, Copyright 1989.
Once upon a mountaintop, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.
The first little tree looked up at the stars twinkling like diamonds above him. "I want to hold treasure," he said. "I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I will be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!"
The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be a strong sailing ship," he said. "I want to travel mighty waters and carry powerful kings. I will be the strongest ship in the world!"
The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and busy women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave this mountaintop at all," she said. "I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they will raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world!"
Years passed. The rains came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall.
One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain.
The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining axe, the first tree fell.
"Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest," thought the first tree. "I shall hold wonderful treasure."
The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining axe, the second tree fell.
"Now I shall sail mighty waters," thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship fit for kings!"
The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven.
But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me," he muttered. With a swoop of his shining axe, the third tree fell.
The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought him to a carpenter's shop, but the busy carpenter was not thinking about treasure chests. Instead his work-worn hands fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals.
The once-beautiful tree was not covered with gold or filled with treasure. He was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.
The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took him to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ships were being made that day. Instead the once-strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat.
Too small and too weak to sail an ocean or even a river, he was taken to a little lake. Every day he brought in loads of dead, smelly fish.
The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard.
"What happened?" the once-tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted to do was stay on the mountaintop and point to God."
Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams.
But one night golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box.
"I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered.
The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said.
And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.
One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake.
Soon a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. He knew he did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and rain.
The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun.
And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.
One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry, jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her.
She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.
But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything.
It had made the first tree beautiful. It had made the second tree strong.
And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.
That was better than being the tallest tree in the whole world.
A Modern Parable About Prayer
A Modern Parable About Prayer
A large ship was wrecked during a storm and only two men survived and swam to a desert island. The two survivors looked around them and realised they had no recourse except to pray to God. To find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the island and was able to eat fruit. The other man's piece of land was barren.
After a week the first man became lonely and decided to pray for a wife. The next day, a ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman, who swam to his side of the island. On the other side of the island there was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, by some miracle, all these things were provided for him and the woman. However, the second man received nothing.
Finally the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island and return to civilisation. In the morning, a ship was anchored off his side of the island, and the crew were waving at him.
The first man and his wife boarded the ship and decided to leave the second man on the island. They considered him unworthy to recieve God's blessings because none of his prayers had been answered.
As the ship began to leave, a voice boomed from heaven, saying, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"
"These blessings are mine alone," said the first man, "because I was the one who prayed for them. His prayers were not answered, but mine were, so he doesn't deserve anything."
"You are completely mistaken,"said God. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. If it hadn't been for his prayer, you would have received none of the things that you did. He prayed that all your prayers would be answered."
Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself. ~ Mother Teresa
A large ship was wrecked during a storm and only two men survived and swam to a desert island. The two survivors looked around them and realised they had no recourse except to pray to God. To find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the island and was able to eat fruit. The other man's piece of land was barren.
After a week the first man became lonely and decided to pray for a wife. The next day, a ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman, who swam to his side of the island. On the other side of the island there was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, by some miracle, all these things were provided for him and the woman. However, the second man received nothing.
Finally the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island and return to civilisation. In the morning, a ship was anchored off his side of the island, and the crew were waving at him.
The first man and his wife boarded the ship and decided to leave the second man on the island. They considered him unworthy to recieve God's blessings because none of his prayers had been answered.
As the ship began to leave, a voice boomed from heaven, saying, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"
"These blessings are mine alone," said the first man, "because I was the one who prayed for them. His prayers were not answered, but mine were, so he doesn't deserve anything."
"You are completely mistaken,"said God. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. If it hadn't been for his prayer, you would have received none of the things that you did. He prayed that all your prayers would be answered."
Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself. ~ Mother Teresa
!!!!!!!!!Bossy Micromanaging Bitch!!!!!!!!!
haha, yesterday, I think, I got it from the TV, can't remember what show it is, or it's just a commercial, what I can remember, is only this term...
Let me say it again.. YOU!!! BOSSY MICROMANAGING BITCH!!!!!
wow!! powerful!! ^o^
I consider myself lucky, as, I have had worked under 2 female bosses before, but they're not bossy, and they're not micromanaging, or bitch!!
but then, first female boss was err... basically kinda lousy, so, if you're lousy, you don't deserve a name, cos, you're just lousy, if you get any names like this, like the above, you somehow should feel 'flattered' ^_^;;
as, well.. to me, not every bad female can be called bitch, you've gotta be something to get to that 'level' @_@
anyway, as I don't work anymore, those who know, will know what I am talking about, and for those who don't know, just treat it as my scolding page!!
well.. there's this micromanaging bitch that I know.. actually, not that bitch, but definitely micromanaging... as I said, you gotta be something to be called bitch, she's not THERE yet... she's just an old auntie, who likes to micromanage
(bitch, somehow, gotta be kinda a hot babe, but bitchy, get the picture?)
what does this old auntie do?
1. if you're problem, you give her a call, first she'll speak to you with a very UNWELCOMING tone, let me tell you, you really would rather go jump down from the building, or, take a piece of tofu to knock your own head, if you happen to work under such type of boss (and personally, I really would prefer not to work under a female boss.. it's just soooo, uninteresting!! except my latest ex-female boss, cos, she's cute!!)
2. after giving you the session of UNWELCOMING not to say pleasant tone, you've gotta brief her the problem right? but then, her response is like, "have you done this?", "have you tried that?" and bla bla bla questions, without brain.. what!! we're not 3-year-old kids!! (sorry, any 3-year-old kid, I don't mean to insult you!) if we haven't tried all those solution, do you think, we'd want to call you? such an uninterestin auntie? do you think we'd resolved to call you, if we have a choice??
3. then, she'll start praising others, tell you that, you should look upon XXX or YYY, and learn from them... YOU'RE RIGHT!!! if those generic templates, or solutions can be used, I WOULDN'T HAVE CALLED YOU NOW!!! you !$$#%#^% uninteresting auntie!!!
4. then, let me tell you, if you work by the book, she'll ask you, why you didn't try another innovative solution, and then, if you work with your creativity, try some innovative solution, then, she'll ask you again, why didn't you follow the book!!! !$#!%$#^%#&*&^$*^&$!%$#$ I wish I am there, and will say straight to her face, SCREW YOU!!!! (oops, mind my language)
5. and this BOSSY MICROMANAGING BITCH(actually, rather an auntie!!) LAST BUT NOT LEAST, will always remind you that, OH, YOU'VE TO ALWAYS BE A PEOPLE PERSON... and bla bla bla all sorts of BS + BS + BS!!!! and you know what? she's the last person on the PEOPLE-PERSON list... and cool!! she actually thought she's one of them!!! (in her dream!!)
6. why is she micromanaging?? cos, she really wants to know every single detailed from how you type A-Z, the way you work, the way you handle a situation!!! goodness!!!!!!!!!!! $#%#^%$&^%*&#%^%#$#$
7. LASTLY... as a very senior executive in the company, and as she always claimed that, one must save the costing for the running projects... HOWEVER... she wouldn't foot the bill for the dinner with all her subordinates... ie. planning to claim from the project... rather than from her own pocket, even when it's as cheap as AUD 50++????? Goodness@#@$!#%@^%#&*$^&* AUNTIE, is just an AUNTIE!!! regardless what company you work with, or what position you're in...
Let me say it again.. YOU!!! BOSSY MICROMANAGING BITCH!!!!!
wow!! powerful!! ^o^
I consider myself lucky, as, I have had worked under 2 female bosses before, but they're not bossy, and they're not micromanaging, or bitch!!
but then, first female boss was err... basically kinda lousy, so, if you're lousy, you don't deserve a name, cos, you're just lousy, if you get any names like this, like the above, you somehow should feel 'flattered' ^_^;;
as, well.. to me, not every bad female can be called bitch, you've gotta be something to get to that 'level' @_@
anyway, as I don't work anymore, those who know, will know what I am talking about, and for those who don't know, just treat it as my scolding page!!
well.. there's this micromanaging bitch that I know.. actually, not that bitch, but definitely micromanaging... as I said, you gotta be something to be called bitch, she's not THERE yet... she's just an old auntie, who likes to micromanage
(bitch, somehow, gotta be kinda a hot babe, but bitchy, get the picture?)
what does this old auntie do?
1. if you're problem, you give her a call, first she'll speak to you with a very UNWELCOMING tone, let me tell you, you really would rather go jump down from the building, or, take a piece of tofu to knock your own head, if you happen to work under such type of boss (and personally, I really would prefer not to work under a female boss.. it's just soooo, uninteresting!! except my latest ex-female boss, cos, she's cute!!)
2. after giving you the session of UNWELCOMING not to say pleasant tone, you've gotta brief her the problem right? but then, her response is like, "have you done this?", "have you tried that?" and bla bla bla questions, without brain.. what!! we're not 3-year-old kids!! (sorry, any 3-year-old kid, I don't mean to insult you!) if we haven't tried all those solution, do you think, we'd want to call you? such an uninterestin auntie? do you think we'd resolved to call you, if we have a choice??
3. then, she'll start praising others, tell you that, you should look upon XXX or YYY, and learn from them... YOU'RE RIGHT!!! if those generic templates, or solutions can be used, I WOULDN'T HAVE CALLED YOU NOW!!! you !$$#%#^% uninteresting auntie!!!
4. then, let me tell you, if you work by the book, she'll ask you, why you didn't try another innovative solution, and then, if you work with your creativity, try some innovative solution, then, she'll ask you again, why didn't you follow the book!!! !$#!%$#^%#&*&^$*^&$!%$#$ I wish I am there, and will say straight to her face, SCREW YOU!!!! (oops, mind my language)
5. and this BOSSY MICROMANAGING BITCH(actually, rather an auntie!!) LAST BUT NOT LEAST, will always remind you that, OH, YOU'VE TO ALWAYS BE A PEOPLE PERSON... and bla bla bla all sorts of BS + BS + BS!!!! and you know what? she's the last person on the PEOPLE-PERSON list... and cool!! she actually thought she's one of them!!! (in her dream!!)
6. why is she micromanaging?? cos, she really wants to know every single detailed from how you type A-Z, the way you work, the way you handle a situation!!! goodness!!!!!!!!!!! $#%#^%$&^%*&#%^%#$#$
7. LASTLY... as a very senior executive in the company, and as she always claimed that, one must save the costing for the running projects... HOWEVER... she wouldn't foot the bill for the dinner with all her subordinates... ie. planning to claim from the project... rather than from her own pocket, even when it's as cheap as AUD 50++????? Goodness@#@$!#%@^%#&*$^&* AUNTIE, is just an AUNTIE!!! regardless what company you work with, or what position you're in...
ooO Dirty talk, talk Dirty Ooo
Huh!! do you ever talk dirty? or... are you the type who's always prim and proper??
haha... I'm just wondering..
cos, I remember back in uni time, I'm not sure why..
normally, once in a while, we (my friends and I) will gather together, either have a dinner outside, or do some cooking back in our apartment and enjoy the dinner.. but then, every time, without fail, our conversation topic will sure ended up somewhere regarding... err...
taboo sujects?
am I allowed to type it out here??
well... about anything, basically, anything that's forbidden when you're dining with your elderly, parents, family... or kids.. ^_^;
until one day, one of us suddenly raised this question...
ya, the obvious question, ie. why everytime after a meal, we'll end up talking dirty?? ^_^;;
maybe I have grown up in a pretty male-dominant environment, I mean, I played with my 2 younger brothers since I was very small... so, sometimes, I don't think I am a girl, or, sometimes, I think, others treat me like a guy..
but then... why I am talking about "dirty talk, talk dirty" here..
well... I was just thinking.. sometimes, dirty talk, or simply 'talk cock' (aiyo!!! mind my language) can be pretty fun and relaxing..
Oh!! you should listen to my brother when he tells you those dirty jokes... and it's those high level dirty jokes, not those without plot ^_^ (cheh!!)
I'll normally laugh my head off when I listen to him... but then, what a shame, I cannot tell as good as him...
mm... actually what I am trying to say is.. hey!! buddy!!! relax LAH!! ^_~
cos, I think, to be a prim and proper person, can be very tiring sometimes, or, to me, it's most of the time..
just like my favourite momoko... she mentioned that, since 11 or 12, she's already started to read those adult books..
and she mentioned that, she sometimes, will sit down and watch some porno movies... for a laugh, cos, she thought that those stunts were too amazing, and that, porno movies sometimes are even funnier than a so-called comedy...
(^>^)
I like her, not because she talk dirty ok? I like her because she's very truthful to herself and truthful to people, and that, she viewed such err.. such taboo stuff in such light and easy manner.. ie. it's no big deal!!
for eg. my brother and I, or even my husband and I, whenever we see big nice BOOBS on the TV, we'll "WAH!"
haha!!! and I thought that "WAH!" is fun!
well.. life is short, and full of misery sometimes...
take some time, sit down, relax, and admire God's amazing and beautiful work!!!
(@.@)
they're called EYE CANDY!!!
a short dirty joke to share... ^_^
I really cannot remember how to tell the story, first heard it from my brother... found it on the internet ^_^;;
有一個酒鬼上街買酒喝，忽然他瞥見街角一家酒店貼著一張：〔只要完成三個難
題，就可免費喝一年的酒〕的告示！！酒鬼見機不可失，便進去向酒保詢問，並先喝了
幾杯酒。酒保道：「你要向三個難題挑戰啊？」酒鬼醉道：「好吧。」「首先．你必須
一囗氣喝掉這杯加滿胡椒的龍舌蘭。」「第二．我們後院有一隻河馬牙齒痛很久了，你
必須幫它拔牙。」「第三．看到對面的公寓了嗎？那裡住著一個女人很久都沒滿足了，
你要讓她滿足。」酒鬼一聽馬上躍躍欲試，於是他便一囗氣灌完了那杯龍舌蘭，突然他
感到整個人都要燒起來了，就一鼓作氣衝到後院，後院立刻傳出河馬的尖叫聲，過了不
久酒鬼衝出來了，他大聲地問酒保：「快！你說那個〔牙痛〕的女人在哪？」
There is a drunken man wandering around on the street, still looking for more alcohol... suddenly he saw this notice outside a bar, that says "if you can get this 3 difficult tasks done, you'll have free beer for a year from us!!"
this man saw this as a great opportunity to get lots of beer, so, he entered the bar, and ordered some beer...
then the bar tender asked him, "so, do you want to take up the challenge??"
the man said, "no problem!"
bar tender said, "first, you've to down this terquila that's added with pepper in 1 gulp!"
"second, there's a hippopotamus(hippopo) in our backyard, she's had a toothache for a LONG time, you've to help her to pull out that bad tooth!!"
"third, you see the apartment across the street? there's a woman in there, who's not been SATISFIED for a long time, you've to satisfy her!"
without giving it a second thought, the drunken man down the terquila, and he felt this sudden burning in him, quickly he ran to the backyard,
then people in the bar heard a loud cry from the hippopo coming out from the backyard,
after a short while, the drunken man came into the bar, and asked,
"QUICK!! TELL ME, WHERE'S THE WOMAN WITH THE TOOTHACHE!!"
haha... I'm just wondering..
cos, I remember back in uni time, I'm not sure why..
normally, once in a while, we (my friends and I) will gather together, either have a dinner outside, or do some cooking back in our apartment and enjoy the dinner.. but then, every time, without fail, our conversation topic will sure ended up somewhere regarding... err...
taboo sujects?
am I allowed to type it out here??
well... about anything, basically, anything that's forbidden when you're dining with your elderly, parents, family... or kids.. ^_^;
until one day, one of us suddenly raised this question...
ya, the obvious question, ie. why everytime after a meal, we'll end up talking dirty?? ^_^;;
maybe I have grown up in a pretty male-dominant environment, I mean, I played with my 2 younger brothers since I was very small... so, sometimes, I don't think I am a girl, or, sometimes, I think, others treat me like a guy..
but then... why I am talking about "dirty talk, talk dirty" here..
well... I was just thinking.. sometimes, dirty talk, or simply 'talk cock' (aiyo!!! mind my language) can be pretty fun and relaxing..
Oh!! you should listen to my brother when he tells you those dirty jokes... and it's those high level dirty jokes, not those without plot ^_^ (cheh!!)
I'll normally laugh my head off when I listen to him... but then, what a shame, I cannot tell as good as him...
mm... actually what I am trying to say is.. hey!! buddy!!! relax LAH!! ^_~
cos, I think, to be a prim and proper person, can be very tiring sometimes, or, to me, it's most of the time..
just like my favourite momoko... she mentioned that, since 11 or 12, she's already started to read those adult books..
and she mentioned that, she sometimes, will sit down and watch some porno movies... for a laugh, cos, she thought that those stunts were too amazing, and that, porno movies sometimes are even funnier than a so-called comedy...
(^>^)
I like her, not because she talk dirty ok? I like her because she's very truthful to herself and truthful to people, and that, she viewed such err.. such taboo stuff in such light and easy manner.. ie. it's no big deal!!
for eg. my brother and I, or even my husband and I, whenever we see big nice BOOBS on the TV, we'll "WAH!"
haha!!! and I thought that "WAH!" is fun!
well.. life is short, and full of misery sometimes...
take some time, sit down, relax, and admire God's amazing and beautiful work!!!
(@.@)
they're called EYE CANDY!!!
a short dirty joke to share... ^_^
I really cannot remember how to tell the story, first heard it from my brother... found it on the internet ^_^;;
有一個酒鬼上街買酒喝，忽然他瞥見街角一家酒店貼著一張：〔只要完成三個難
題，就可免費喝一年的酒〕的告示！！酒鬼見機不可失，便進去向酒保詢問，並先喝了
幾杯酒。酒保道：「你要向三個難題挑戰啊？」酒鬼醉道：「好吧。」「首先．你必須
一囗氣喝掉這杯加滿胡椒的龍舌蘭。」「第二．我們後院有一隻河馬牙齒痛很久了，你
必須幫它拔牙。」「第三．看到對面的公寓了嗎？那裡住著一個女人很久都沒滿足了，
你要讓她滿足。」酒鬼一聽馬上躍躍欲試，於是他便一囗氣灌完了那杯龍舌蘭，突然他
感到整個人都要燒起來了，就一鼓作氣衝到後院，後院立刻傳出河馬的尖叫聲，過了不
久酒鬼衝出來了，他大聲地問酒保：「快！你說那個〔牙痛〕的女人在哪？」
There is a drunken man wandering around on the street, still looking for more alcohol... suddenly he saw this notice outside a bar, that says "if you can get this 3 difficult tasks done, you'll have free beer for a year from us!!"
this man saw this as a great opportunity to get lots of beer, so, he entered the bar, and ordered some beer...
then the bar tender asked him, "so, do you want to take up the challenge??"
the man said, "no problem!"
bar tender said, "first, you've to down this terquila that's added with pepper in 1 gulp!"
"second, there's a hippopotamus(hippopo) in our backyard, she's had a toothache for a LONG time, you've to help her to pull out that bad tooth!!"
"third, you see the apartment across the street? there's a woman in there, who's not been SATISFIED for a long time, you've to satisfy her!"
without giving it a second thought, the drunken man down the terquila, and he felt this sudden burning in him, quickly he ran to the backyard,
then people in the bar heard a loud cry from the hippopo coming out from the backyard,
after a short while, the drunken man came into the bar, and asked,
"QUICK!! TELL ME, WHERE'S THE WOMAN WITH THE TOOTHACHE!!"
a story about hell....
There's a story about hell, that I heard when I was small... if I have not remembered wrongly, probably it's from the sunday school...
but then... later... I think... mm... I think, the story is actually originally a buddhism story...
however... it doesn't reall matter... cos, the teaching is important..
The story is telling about how it is in hell...
and I think that actually refers to the err... (I think only buddhist friend can tell me the answer)
err... as.. buddhist definition, hell has different stages...
one of the stage is for those who starved to death... I think, there're more meaning in the words "starved to death" but then, I'm not sure of the exact explanation
(well.. what I can think of, is, starved from food, starved from fame or power, starved from whatever one was craving for and one could get before one dies)
ok.. so, there's this stage for these type of souls..
and what happened is... if you enter that stage and see... you'll see a bunch of 'hungry ghosts' trying to eat, but cannot reach the food, and they can never eat the food... BECAUSE.. each of them is given a pair of very long chopsticks(or you call it forks, you can modify according to location ^_^;)
mm.. a very simple story..
while the teaching behind is..
if these hungry ghosts have stopped thinking only about themselves... and start to think of the others, they can use their chopstick to pick up the food, and feed the ghost who sits opposite them... right??
but then... ^__^ I like simple but meaningful story like this..
as... I was praying today.. and then, I started to wonder, how should one prays..
and actually I think I know... the most effective type of prayer, is when you pray for the others...
The ghosts mentioned above, will forever be starved from food, even though the food is in front of them..
that's why, they are in hell...
but then... later... I think... mm... I think, the story is actually originally a buddhism story...
however... it doesn't reall matter... cos, the teaching is important..
The story is telling about how it is in hell...
and I think that actually refers to the err... (I think only buddhist friend can tell me the answer)
err... as.. buddhist definition, hell has different stages...
one of the stage is for those who starved to death... I think, there're more meaning in the words "starved to death" but then, I'm not sure of the exact explanation
(well.. what I can think of, is, starved from food, starved from fame or power, starved from whatever one was craving for and one could get before one dies)
ok.. so, there's this stage for these type of souls..
and what happened is... if you enter that stage and see... you'll see a bunch of 'hungry ghosts' trying to eat, but cannot reach the food, and they can never eat the food... BECAUSE.. each of them is given a pair of very long chopsticks(or you call it forks, you can modify according to location ^_^;)
mm.. a very simple story..
while the teaching behind is..
if these hungry ghosts have stopped thinking only about themselves... and start to think of the others, they can use their chopstick to pick up the food, and feed the ghost who sits opposite them... right??
but then... ^__^ I like simple but meaningful story like this..
as... I was praying today.. and then, I started to wonder, how should one prays..
and actually I think I know... the most effective type of prayer, is when you pray for the others...
The ghosts mentioned above, will forever be starved from food, even though the food is in front of them..
that's why, they are in hell...
Get down on your knees and Pray!!--- 24 Season 5
HAHAHA!! you know where the above come from?
and I say it in a cheering tone, it's because, it's kind of funny when I saw it..
if you have watched '24' Season 5, somewhere in the middle, I can't remember what time...
when the terrorists threaten President Logan, to give them the Russian President's motorcade route to the airport, so that they could assasinate him...
Logan was reluctant to give in, but then, he didn't fight long, and then... he gave up the motorcade route...
but then, the first lady, was very disappointed with him, the fact that, he didn't even fight any longer with the terrorists, but then, gave in to their threat and betrayed the Russian President, who's just signed a treaty with America..
So, the story went on...
the terrorists were all ready to wait for the motorcade to arrive at that turning so that, they could 'bajooka' them!!
Just prior to the time, the assassination time...
as Logan eventually found out that his own wife was with the Russian President, in the motorcade,
that put him in another difficult situation again... whether he should inform the motorcade, to ask them to reroute, that could save the Russian Presiden, and his own wife, or... he should just let it be, and let the assassination carry on..
as, if he informed the motorcade, then, the terrorists will release the nerve gas, in whereever they could think of..
In the end, he decided to let it be...
and that time, his advisor Mike Novick was with him, Mike just stared at him, waited for his response, to see if he would inform the motorcade..
the next thing he did, was put his arm on Mike's shoulder, and told him this, "the only thing we can do now, is to pray!"
well... I thought that's a way of speech, and to my surprise...
he really pulled Mike aside, and made him kneel down to pray together with him...
... they prayed..
and I laughed... what a useless and ball-less president!!! (oops, mind my language, but then, sometimes, it's good to err... swear, dirty words, kakakakaka!)
The terrorists, did eventually bombed the motorcade, but then, just before that second, CTU somehow found out from their own INTEL (intelligence) that, the motorcade would be under attack, and informed the secret services who're with the motorcade...
therefore, somehow the Russian President and the First Lady were safe...
OK... after all the above 'history' of where I get the title from...
what I actually want to mention is... just last weekend, something happened to my husband's project..
it involved data backup and restore, but not his part..
well... I won't go into details of this...
but what happened was, some data need to be restored and the person who's supposed to know how to do it, didn't know how to do it..
and this will affect the next business day... (somehow!!)
my husband sounded very very very very worried (it's really very worried!!)
and well... since I've been involved with some data backup/restore business... I was more confident in all this.. but then, I was very very very worried for him... (it's funny that, sometimes, your mood is just simply the other person mood, or vice versa)
so, I went online, found this always-cool guy, and asked him about those backup/restore issue... well... from the conversation, it really was not really going to be a very problematic problem solving...
but... like I mentioned to my husband during that time, when I got to know the issue... I told him (cos, it's not his part, or his team's part, however it's a chain reaction thing, but then again... there's nothing much he could do, or there's nothing much anybody could do, except those techy people)
since there's nothing much he or anybody can do, that night..
I suddenly thought of Logan's situation.. the above situation that I just describe...
so, I told him, maybe we all should get down on our knees and pray, just like Logan did...
@_@
well... in the end... this issue was solved... that night...
HERE comes the real work!!
and I say it in a cheering tone, it's because, it's kind of funny when I saw it..
if you have watched '24' Season 5, somewhere in the middle, I can't remember what time...
when the terrorists threaten President Logan, to give them the Russian President's motorcade route to the airport, so that they could assasinate him...
Logan was reluctant to give in, but then, he didn't fight long, and then... he gave up the motorcade route...
but then, the first lady, was very disappointed with him, the fact that, he didn't even fight any longer with the terrorists, but then, gave in to their threat and betrayed the Russian President, who's just signed a treaty with America..
So, the story went on...
the terrorists were all ready to wait for the motorcade to arrive at that turning so that, they could 'bajooka' them!!
Just prior to the time, the assassination time...
as Logan eventually found out that his own wife was with the Russian President, in the motorcade,
that put him in another difficult situation again... whether he should inform the motorcade, to ask them to reroute, that could save the Russian Presiden, and his own wife, or... he should just let it be, and let the assassination carry on..
as, if he informed the motorcade, then, the terrorists will release the nerve gas, in whereever they could think of..
In the end, he decided to let it be...
and that time, his advisor Mike Novick was with him, Mike just stared at him, waited for his response, to see if he would inform the motorcade..
the next thing he did, was put his arm on Mike's shoulder, and told him this, "the only thing we can do now, is to pray!"
well... I thought that's a way of speech, and to my surprise...
he really pulled Mike aside, and made him kneel down to pray together with him...
... they prayed..
and I laughed... what a useless and ball-less president!!! (oops, mind my language, but then, sometimes, it's good to err... swear, dirty words, kakakakaka!)
The terrorists, did eventually bombed the motorcade, but then, just before that second, CTU somehow found out from their own INTEL (intelligence) that, the motorcade would be under attack, and informed the secret services who're with the motorcade...
therefore, somehow the Russian President and the First Lady were safe...
OK... after all the above 'history' of where I get the title from...
what I actually want to mention is... just last weekend, something happened to my husband's project..
it involved data backup and restore, but not his part..
well... I won't go into details of this...
but what happened was, some data need to be restored and the person who's supposed to know how to do it, didn't know how to do it..
and this will affect the next business day... (somehow!!)
my husband sounded very very very very worried (it's really very worried!!)
and well... since I've been involved with some data backup/restore business... I was more confident in all this.. but then, I was very very very worried for him... (it's funny that, sometimes, your mood is just simply the other person mood, or vice versa)
so, I went online, found this always-cool guy, and asked him about those backup/restore issue... well... from the conversation, it really was not really going to be a very problematic problem solving...
but... like I mentioned to my husband during that time, when I got to know the issue... I told him (cos, it's not his part, or his team's part, however it's a chain reaction thing, but then again... there's nothing much he could do, or there's nothing much anybody could do, except those techy people)
since there's nothing much he or anybody can do, that night..
I suddenly thought of Logan's situation.. the above situation that I just describe...
so, I told him, maybe we all should get down on our knees and pray, just like Logan did...
@_@
well... in the end... this issue was solved... that night...
HERE comes the real work!!
2006-09-19
Where is your BLOODY Sense of Responsibility????????? PART II
Arrgh!! I know it's not so much of my business, but then... when you see unfairness, you just have to voice it out...
I seriously don't know what happen to certain people here, in this particular project that I heard of...
and my advice to you is, if you happen to have to be a project manager, and you happen to be not somebody from this country (ie. you don't have their type of working culture) then, get as minimum as possible those who are from here, to work for you...
this is what happened...
Somebody, say Miss A that I have heard of..
before the project started, Miss A voiced out the fact that, she wants to get promoted this year (to be a manager, ie. in order to be in this post, you have to be able to handle a team, bear responsibility, take stress, manage customers, good technical knowledge, think from the project's point of view)
ok... after a few months, when the promotion period was there, she was not the one who's promoted...
and then... here comes the critical time, critical time for the project, as it's near the finale..
and then!!! what happened???
what happened was... because of some overlook error, somehow the schedule is a little bit mesed up
and the overlook error was caused by Miss A...
ya, what I can see is that, Miss A is not the ONLY person who's impacted!!!! what about the whole team, who's to work all over again? what about the person in charge, who's to worry about the timeline and explaining to top management, and managing clients...
In the beginning fo the week, somebody from my own home country came over to help in this project,
a person, who's capable, independent, and reliable, willing to work, take full responsbility, he really helps a lot in the project, I really feel like cooking him a meal (well.. as a housewife, that's all I can do at the moment)
and what happened to Miss A???
ok, she totally forgot the fact that's she's not THERE yet...
complained about the fact that, she's go to into the office late hour to continue running her job (ya, who caused it? who caused the part has to be re-runned??)
complained about the fact that, she's tired after working long hour, (ya, for a fact that I know, compare to those who work long hour, she's NOT THERE YET)
complained about the fact that, she's not appreciated in the project (still sulking on the fact that, she's not promoted)
and guess what happened next..
when there's an asshole from a cave, I suppose that cave will be full of similar type of asshole,
what happened next was, her advisor gave such !#$@%^%#& suggestion!!
1. maybe you need to praise her a bit more
2. maybe you should give her more rest, take a few days off
3. maybe you need to give her some shopping vouchers to show your appreciation
OH!! now I can see that, you have such type of advisor, then, you have this type of subordinate... NOW I SEE!!!! !#%@%$#^#*&(%*&^$#
FIRST question I want to ask, what about the mistake(error) that she's caused, why they don't mention about it?
SECOND question, with this type of personality, and 'capability', do you think, she is suitable to be called a MANAGER??? BS!!!
and a final thing I wish I can tell her, straight to her face, is that..
if you want to work in protective environment, if you can't work under stress, if you don't even have that 1-centimeter of a little bit of sense of responsibilily, why join a company like this... do you think, it's pure glamour that, you can go around and boast about? you must as well, sit back, or sit at home and become a housewife!!!! #$!%$#^%&^*$^&%$#%
I seriously don't know what happen to certain people here, in this particular project that I heard of...
and my advice to you is, if you happen to have to be a project manager, and you happen to be not somebody from this country (ie. you don't have their type of working culture) then, get as minimum as possible those who are from here, to work for you...
this is what happened...
Somebody, say Miss A that I have heard of..
before the project started, Miss A voiced out the fact that, she wants to get promoted this year (to be a manager, ie. in order to be in this post, you have to be able to handle a team, bear responsibility, take stress, manage customers, good technical knowledge, think from the project's point of view)
ok... after a few months, when the promotion period was there, she was not the one who's promoted...
and then... here comes the critical time, critical time for the project, as it's near the finale..
and then!!! what happened???
what happened was... because of some overlook error, somehow the schedule is a little bit mesed up
and the overlook error was caused by Miss A...
ya, what I can see is that, Miss A is not the ONLY person who's impacted!!!! what about the whole team, who's to work all over again? what about the person in charge, who's to worry about the timeline and explaining to top management, and managing clients...
In the beginning fo the week, somebody from my own home country came over to help in this project,
a person, who's capable, independent, and reliable, willing to work, take full responsbility, he really helps a lot in the project, I really feel like cooking him a meal (well.. as a housewife, that's all I can do at the moment)
and what happened to Miss A???
ok, she totally forgot the fact that's she's not THERE yet...
complained about the fact that, she's go to into the office late hour to continue running her job (ya, who caused it? who caused the part has to be re-runned??)
complained about the fact that, she's tired after working long hour, (ya, for a fact that I know, compare to those who work long hour, she's NOT THERE YET)
complained about the fact that, she's not appreciated in the project (still sulking on the fact that, she's not promoted)
and guess what happened next..
when there's an asshole from a cave, I suppose that cave will be full of similar type of asshole,
what happened next was, her advisor gave such !#$@%^%#& suggestion!!
1. maybe you need to praise her a bit more
2. maybe you should give her more rest, take a few days off
3. maybe you need to give her some shopping vouchers to show your appreciation
OH!! now I can see that, you have such type of advisor, then, you have this type of subordinate... NOW I SEE!!!! !#%@%$#^#*&(%*&^$#
FIRST question I want to ask, what about the mistake(error) that she's caused, why they don't mention about it?
SECOND question, with this type of personality, and 'capability', do you think, she is suitable to be called a MANAGER??? BS!!!
and a final thing I wish I can tell her, straight to her face, is that..
if you want to work in protective environment, if you can't work under stress, if you don't even have that 1-centimeter of a little bit of sense of responsibilily, why join a company like this... do you think, it's pure glamour that, you can go around and boast about? you must as well, sit back, or sit at home and become a housewife!!!! #$!%$#^%&^*$^&%$#%
2006-09-18
Sharing: Life ... Love it! Hate it!
Wa haha!!! today I have just read another friend's blog, I like it, so, I thought I'll cross-refer it here...
I want to stress that, it's not mine, it's my friend's blog!! (^__^)V don't want to be 'sued' for plagiarism, or copycat!!
I told her, I want to kiss her after reading this (^ 3 ^) keke!!
"Hi, how are you?" “How is life?”
In essence – What is in our life? How can we live the life to the fullness? Do we love our life, or, do we hate it? Let’s do some exercise, answering these questions:
§ Can you easily name some regrets in your life?
§ Can you proudly list a series of success stories that happen in the past …?
§ Name your – happiest moments, most memorable moments …
§ Name the moment(s) that become the turning point(s) in your life ….
§ List down, people who influence your life in a positive & negative way – and life could have been different without them visiting your life …
§ Name things that you would like to do, but you either do not have the courage or time for it
§ Are you still being “haunted” by some past horrible experiences? Or,
§ Are you –most of the time- worry about what will happen in the future?
I want to stress that, it's not mine, it's my friend's blog!! (^__^)V don't want to be 'sued' for plagiarism, or copycat!!
I told her, I want to kiss her after reading this (^ 3 ^) keke!!
Half full or Half empty? ......
Life with half full or half empty"Hi, how are you?" “How is life?”
The most common courtesy we normally greet people we just meet or those we have not met for quite some time.
Life – from whichever angle you see … always brings a lot of stories. Some interesting, mundane, sad, hilarious … with the entire unknown …
Does “Life” mean only by the minutes, the hours – days we spend, with all the surprises, the interesting stories, conversation, interactions we develop with others?
How would we look at somebody’s “Life”? How would you call a “good life”? Would that be based on people’s achievement in their career, wealth, contribution to the society, religious life … - is it a process of how somebody lives his / her years, how they influence others, what they leave behind when they reach their final destination? What matter the most in one’s life?
In a way – I am thankful for all the stormy moments that have visited my life up until now. All the sweats, tears, fights – which in the end give me the courage to stand up and brought me to where I am now. Think about it ..when we were younger, in our school days, uni days, no matter how tough things were, in school or at home, they were always within reach. We could plan on it, work on it, gave them a bit more determination, and they were more possible than ever …
Then, we moved on with life. Started our real working life, met more people, and faced different challenges. Success no longer depends on how hard we work, or how determine we are – but there’re just too many factors contributed to it. The wheel of life starts to rotate based on reality, our plans, many times, do not get along very well with the results. We may get frustrated, or amazed with what we get, life is going up and down interchangeably.
Today - I feel very little or no regret with all I have, with where I am and what I am doing. Looking back, I am quite happy with how I passed my bumpy roads – I can put my smile remembering my past tears. Feel thankful and blessed for all the special people who have crafted deep and sweet moments – even those who were there for very brief minutes – hours or days. There are a lot of encouraging moments, or enlightening times when I can say nothing …else than … “Gee, things could not be better …” – “I love my life”
BUT – even without my regrets – there were (and are) still moments, when I feel so low – sometimes, even for no reason, and I feel so lost. Waking up empty, do not know what I am doing – walking aimless, do not know where I should go. Those are moments when I would say – “God, what happen … what I have done to deserve this?” Why, why me? …
The famous quote from Forrest Gump’s mom says that “Life is like a box of chocolate ….” - That means – “expect the unexpected” – we never know what is ahead of us, we may plan, but we need to put some reservation for the worst thing that may happen to us. We do have our lowest moments for many reasons, we may be in our super sensitive mood for a reason that we can’t control – or, we may really face many unfortunate situations that hit us one after the other – without giving us any chance to breathe at all. People may block our way, things may end up not as we plan, we may even do silly things with or without we realize. We may say or do something that we regret in the end, out of our emotion, our anger, that in a very brief moment trigger our very evil thought to hurt others – unintentionally perhaps. We may humiliate ourselves – subconsciously perhaps. People may just treat us unfair, or do something that breaks our heart. “Kindness” I found … is getting more and more scarce recently … some people do not even know what that “kindness” means … sadly, but true …
Often when we are thinking about so many things that we discontent about – our conscious mind tends to lead us thinking of another way or looking for options – and we may create an expected or unexpected intersection in our life. We do not know what decision to make. We may, na?vely make one decision – expecting some good results. But, when things do not go as we like, we are dreaming about the other way that would never ever happen, dreaming how well it could have been …
Long ago, I read somewhere, a good reminder that our past success does not determine our future achievement …. It’s not that, all sweet life, all sweet achievement in the past – guarantee our future success! Also vice versa … I believe, every moment in life, is an independent time, that need to be worked on – and unfortunately, in most stage of our life, time does not really care whether we are in a good mood, whether we are ready to face them well … We just need to face everything, we just need to be ready. End up, we may feel happy when things are aligned with what we like, or we are slashed into pieces and full of tears – when we are facing many disappointment. Like it or not, we just need to be ready for either miracle or disaster … Life can change in a second … or even a fraction of second ….
In essence – What is in our life? How can we live the life to the fullness? Do we love our life, or, do we hate it? Let’s do some exercise, answering these questions:
§ Can you easily name some regrets in your life?
§ Can you proudly list a series of success stories that happen in the past …?
§ Name your – happiest moments, most memorable moments …
§ Name the moment(s) that become the turning point(s) in your life ….
§ List down, people who influence your life in a positive & negative way – and life could have been different without them visiting your life …
§ Name things that you would like to do, but you either do not have the courage or time for it
§ Are you still being “haunted” by some past horrible experiences? Or,
§ Are you –most of the time- worry about what will happen in the future?
Well – there are a lot of aspects in this topic that we can dig further and further – as people’s Life is full of stories, happiness –Love it!, and sadness –Hate it! But for now, after writing for so long … for the interest of your time J there are just a few humble personal opinions I would like to share here …
- For me, - people – friends, family (not the dysfunctional ones, of course) – are those we should treasure, they are the strength of our life that give us water to drink, share our tears and laugh with
- Even so, there are very few points in our life (or almost never ever ….) when we would be able to depend our life, our luck to others … mostly, at the end of the day, we are still the source of the strength, who will experience the tough time and find a way to get out of it, or just being buried dead or alive
- In any situation, I found that, “courage” is everything – courage to make mistakes, to try & fail, and keep trying, courage to make a decision … to admit our mistakes, to say sorry, to say thank you, to show our passion, to show our affection, to step out, to grow and learn – it is just almost everything …
- We all (or at least …me!) do stupid mistakes all the time; speak stupid things a lot, but none of them should stop us from moving on. The important thing, we should be able to forgive ourselves, to give us some moment to stop & breath, and most importantly, LEARN from it … look forward, and being in the PRESENT …
- Work, achievements – I don't know … I guess, for me now, they are not everything – what we do for people around us – how we share and us our life and make differences to people’s life – is all that matters …But wherever we are in any stage of our life, it will be much easier if we know where we want to go … (that’s my friend, is what we call “define our objectives”!)
Lastly – this is may only be applicable for me – the Footprint story … I love this story … the story about looking back to see my footsteps on the sand and flash back the moments in my life. There are always 2 pairs of footprints on the sand, one of mine and another one belongs to our God. To my surprise, I notice that, during my difficult times there are only one pair of footprint! In my despair, I cry to God, and ask Him why he leaves me when I need Him the most? His comforting answer is … “those are the moments when He carry me” – When we believe, miracle does exist … but for whatever reasons, Miracle should not be our last resource in which we are hanging our life on …
Well friends, keep in mind …
§ “Everything that does not kill us makes us stronger ….” = Friedrich Nietzsche =
§ "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." = E. E. Cummings =
§ "Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content." = Helen Keller =
§ Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. = Marcel Proust =
§ See this too ….
For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Where is your BLOODY Sense of Responsibility?????????
I really wonder, how many people at present days, were brought up in a way that, they have to grow up to be a responsible adult.
Responsible, as in, be a responsible employee, responsible boss, responsible spouse, responsible sibling, or responsible friend...
There are SO few people nowadays, (at least, those around me at the moment) passed to be a responsible adult.
Typically you can see that, these type of people... I mean, in terms of work,
They ask what they will get before they really sit their A** down and think properly what they can contribute for their job...
They ask if they can be promoted, before they really use their head and figure if they are capable yet... otherwise, what's their solution?? "I will quit!!"
Since when a company will take such a threat, as a threat... Let me tell you, since the day a company have a superduper lousy boss, who does not have a single control of a critical situation, not to say, this type of employee... then, what will this boss do? ya, that employee WILL be promoted...
and let me tell you, since this very day, a day that should be recorded in the history of such company...
since this day, the company will not be functioning as a proper neutral company anymore, it will only serve as a playground for those who has their own hidden agenda... and let me tell you more,
if you continue to stay back in such company, you'll work till you drop dead.. and nobody will really appreciate your work...
There are so many people these days... work without a sense of responsibility, or even a sense of urgency, especially in this city...
Sharply at 5pm, they will pack and go home, regardless the work is finished or not finished... there is never such thing as UNFINISHED work..
there's no such question as, "what if you cannot finsih your work before the dateline?" they wouldn't care less...
there are people who're on the same team, who need to work over the weekend, but yet there are others, who can happily, who can have the guts to go partying and enjoying the weekend... cos... generally, people in this place, believe, and strongly believe that, ONE should have 8 hours of work, 8 hours of play, and 8 hours of rest... strictly... it's like, they're having this license to not to work!!! #$%#$^%&%(&a%*$%#^$#
and who are those who stay back and work overtime?
those who are not residents of this country!!!! those expat who happened to work in such project...
This is not even a matter of work smart, or work hard, cos, those people, don't even work smart, leaving so many errors behind, and yet still go partying at night..
They simply have no sense of responsibility, not to say, sense of urgency...
Before the project start, they ask what they can claim... gosh!! and let me tell you a fact, towards the end of the day, it's those who asked what they can claim, cannot perform!!! it's the fact, and it's the very ironic fact!!!
and those who could not perform, are also those who ask if they can be promoted!!! #$#%@$^$&%^(^*(&^I
As their management, you simply cannot ask them to do more work, cos, it's in their BLOODY policy!!!!!! as I said, and I have to stress again, there's no UNFINISHED work in their dictionary... they simply don't bother...!!!!!!!
This really gets on my nerves sometimes... it's just something and some practice, and some culture that I simply will not understand... and I believe, it's also something that, THEY cannot understand!!! Why need to work extra, why need to work overtime, why need to be so stressed up with your work, if you cannot finished, just let it be, some other people will somehow finish it for you, cos, it's BLOODY TEAM WORK!!!!
ok, if they stay this way, surviving in their own country is ok.. but let me tell you!!! then these people get out of the country, they still work this way!!!! E$!%$#^%^U%&(^&%&^W%$#
And I notice, there are people who like to work by the book!!! why BY THE BOOK?
cos, if you work by the book, things will never go wrong, and even if it goes wrong, it's never your fault!!!
if you watch '24', you'll see what's the difference between BY THE BOOK, and BY your common sense... to me, if you work by your common sense, it can be dangerous... but then, that shows that you're a human, a human with flesh and blood, a responsible human... and of course if thing goes wrong, you've to be responsible for that.. but THERE ARE SO many people out there, who simply failed to be a responsible ADULT who are so scared to take any responsibility, that is why, they work by the book, as, it will never go wrong!!! right?!!!!!
!$R#@%#$^&*&^%&$^#$!
Just like, one of the episode of Dr. House (I think it's Season 1, Title: DNR)... Dr. House said to Foreman,
when Foreman confronted him saying that, he's been nasty to them, to his subordinate, and always blame them if they do something wrong... I mean, as a doctor, you're suppose to save patient's life, of course, nothing can be done wrong, right? cos, it concerns human's life...
however, Foreman voiced out his disatisfaction about Dr. House, it's because, some other famous doctor that he's known in the past, just approached him and invited him to join him in another bigger hospital, so, Foreman started to compare this two..
While Dr. House and his team was trying to save a patient's life, by all mean...
and somehow Foreman did some mistake, Dr. House scolded him, that's when Foreman confronted Dr. House... quoted Foreman, "He (the other doctor) said, it's not my fault!!"
and Dr. House said, cruelly to Foreman that, "It's your fault, he said, it's not your fault to make your life easy, cos, he knew that, it's your fault!, doctors like him, should not be able to sleep at night..."
This is the part that really showed the difference between a real doctor and a fake one... a fake one, work BY THE BOOK, "oh, I've done this, I've done that, I have tried this, I've tried that, patient's still not cured, still not saved, not my fault, I've done my part!"
but, to Dr. House... he'll never have done his part, as long as the patient is still lying there...
I simply do not understand why nowadays employee of younger generation (I mean, 20++) who are just so lack of sense of responsibility, I believe, if there is an exam, which in the end, will grant them a status as ADULT, all of them will fail!!!
and sometimes, I seriously will want to have a look at their parents and see what is so wrong..
.... grumbling housewife...
ps: if you're not one of them, please don't feel offended, if you're offended, then, I assume you're just one of this type... so, sorry, you go your way, and I'll go my way, and we'll never cross each other anymore!!!!
!#$#%#;^(^(*&;^#$
Responsible, as in, be a responsible employee, responsible boss, responsible spouse, responsible sibling, or responsible friend...
There are SO few people nowadays, (at least, those around me at the moment) passed to be a responsible adult.
Typically you can see that, these type of people... I mean, in terms of work,
They ask what they will get before they really sit their A** down and think properly what they can contribute for their job...
They ask if they can be promoted, before they really use their head and figure if they are capable yet... otherwise, what's their solution?? "I will quit!!"
Since when a company will take such a threat, as a threat... Let me tell you, since the day a company have a superduper lousy boss, who does not have a single control of a critical situation, not to say, this type of employee... then, what will this boss do? ya, that employee WILL be promoted...
and let me tell you, since this very day, a day that should be recorded in the history of such company...
since this day, the company will not be functioning as a proper neutral company anymore, it will only serve as a playground for those who has their own hidden agenda... and let me tell you more,
if you continue to stay back in such company, you'll work till you drop dead.. and nobody will really appreciate your work...
There are so many people these days... work without a sense of responsibility, or even a sense of urgency, especially in this city...
Sharply at 5pm, they will pack and go home, regardless the work is finished or not finished... there is never such thing as UNFINISHED work..
there's no such question as, "what if you cannot finsih your work before the dateline?" they wouldn't care less...
there are people who're on the same team, who need to work over the weekend, but yet there are others, who can happily, who can have the guts to go partying and enjoying the weekend... cos... generally, people in this place, believe, and strongly believe that, ONE should have 8 hours of work, 8 hours of play, and 8 hours of rest... strictly... it's like, they're having this license to not to work!!! #$%#$^%&%(&a%*$%#^$#
and who are those who stay back and work overtime?
those who are not residents of this country!!!! those expat who happened to work in such project...
This is not even a matter of work smart, or work hard, cos, those people, don't even work smart, leaving so many errors behind, and yet still go partying at night..
They simply have no sense of responsibility, not to say, sense of urgency...
Before the project start, they ask what they can claim... gosh!! and let me tell you a fact, towards the end of the day, it's those who asked what they can claim, cannot perform!!! it's the fact, and it's the very ironic fact!!!
and those who could not perform, are also those who ask if they can be promoted!!! #$#%@$^$&%^(^*(&^I
As their management, you simply cannot ask them to do more work, cos, it's in their BLOODY policy!!!!!! as I said, and I have to stress again, there's no UNFINISHED work in their dictionary... they simply don't bother...!!!!!!!
This really gets on my nerves sometimes... it's just something and some practice, and some culture that I simply will not understand... and I believe, it's also something that, THEY cannot understand!!! Why need to work extra, why need to work overtime, why need to be so stressed up with your work, if you cannot finished, just let it be, some other people will somehow finish it for you, cos, it's BLOODY TEAM WORK!!!!
ok, if they stay this way, surviving in their own country is ok.. but let me tell you!!! then these people get out of the country, they still work this way!!!! E$!%$#^%^U%&(^&%&^W%$#
And I notice, there are people who like to work by the book!!! why BY THE BOOK?
cos, if you work by the book, things will never go wrong, and even if it goes wrong, it's never your fault!!!
if you watch '24', you'll see what's the difference between BY THE BOOK, and BY your common sense... to me, if you work by your common sense, it can be dangerous... but then, that shows that you're a human, a human with flesh and blood, a responsible human... and of course if thing goes wrong, you've to be responsible for that.. but THERE ARE SO many people out there, who simply failed to be a responsible ADULT who are so scared to take any responsibility, that is why, they work by the book, as, it will never go wrong!!! right?!!!!!
!$R#@%#$^&*&^%&$^#$!
Just like, one of the episode of Dr. House (I think it's Season 1, Title: DNR)... Dr. House said to Foreman,
when Foreman confronted him saying that, he's been nasty to them, to his subordinate, and always blame them if they do something wrong... I mean, as a doctor, you're suppose to save patient's life, of course, nothing can be done wrong, right? cos, it concerns human's life...
however, Foreman voiced out his disatisfaction about Dr. House, it's because, some other famous doctor that he's known in the past, just approached him and invited him to join him in another bigger hospital, so, Foreman started to compare this two..
While Dr. House and his team was trying to save a patient's life, by all mean...
and somehow Foreman did some mistake, Dr. House scolded him, that's when Foreman confronted Dr. House... quoted Foreman, "He (the other doctor) said, it's not my fault!!"
and Dr. House said, cruelly to Foreman that, "It's your fault, he said, it's not your fault to make your life easy, cos, he knew that, it's your fault!, doctors like him, should not be able to sleep at night..."
This is the part that really showed the difference between a real doctor and a fake one... a fake one, work BY THE BOOK, "oh, I've done this, I've done that, I have tried this, I've tried that, patient's still not cured, still not saved, not my fault, I've done my part!"
but, to Dr. House... he'll never have done his part, as long as the patient is still lying there...
I simply do not understand why nowadays employee of younger generation (I mean, 20++) who are just so lack of sense of responsibility, I believe, if there is an exam, which in the end, will grant them a status as ADULT, all of them will fail!!!
and sometimes, I seriously will want to have a look at their parents and see what is so wrong..
.... grumbling housewife...
ps: if you're not one of them, please don't feel offended, if you're offended, then, I assume you're just one of this type... so, sorry, you go your way, and I'll go my way, and we'll never cross each other anymore!!!!
!#$#%#;^(^(*&;^#$
2006-09-16
American Beauty
I just switched off the TV, after watching the American Beauty, on Channel 9...
This movie was made in 1999, I watched it once since then... till today, it was the second time I watched it...
I didn't like it when I watched it back in 1999... didn't know what the movie was trying to say... maybe I was disillusioned too much by the word "American Beauty", and this blonde girl, Angela, in the show, trying to play sexy too much... What I saw was plain blonde girl trying to flirt around to prove herself, and a depressed cum supressed father/husband...
However.. today, when the show just started..
I was quite surprised of how much I can still remember, except the ending...
I still don't like the show, it's too dark... but then.. maybe after all these years, I have watched quite a different varieties of shows, then... I found myself being able to keep up with the pace and the mood in the show...
I still don't like the show...
and maybe because I have watched too many of those japanese movies that explore the darkside of human... and that, I somehow found some similarities between this "American Beauty" and those that I have watched, (japanese movies)... this is one of the rare show from hollywood, that explore the darkside, so much, in such slow pace... and, without much violence...
Characters:-
The family with Lester(Father), Carolyn(Mother), Jane(daughter, teenage)
A neighbour family with a military colonel(I cannot remember his name), his son Ricky, and his wife(who looked stoned, sick all the time, even forgetful, like she's not living in this world anymore, and sometimes sat there just like a vegetable)
When I watched it in 1999, I didn't see what I see today...
When I watched in 1999, it was just purely about the blonde girl, Angela (I thought she was the "American Beauty") like to boast about her love life (which she actually did not have any) and that, the mother Carolyn having an affair...
That could be the reason, I really didn't know where this show was going to...
Tonight...
I saw suppression and struggles... nobody in there was happy with who they were, or the life they were in, and the struggle between Carolyn and Lester, ie. a husband and wife issue
then, between Ricky and his Col. father... a father who ever thinks like, talks like, teaches his kids like, treats himself like, sees the world like a military man... he said loudly after beating up Ricky, "You can't just do whatever you wanted to do, the world has rule!!"
Early in the morning at the breakfast table, the Col. would read the newspaper and cursed the world... the mother, who's like a walking corpse, without a soul, would never remember what Ricky eats, or doesn't eat... and she would still cook then, cos, she was like totally out of her mind living a walking corpse life...
In the end, I figured out, the father was the main problem in the family, a man who shed thick and heavy dark shadow on the family... first, be his military background (maybe he was tortured enough, or maybe he had been to some life/death situation) but most importantly was his suppressed homosexuality...
Nobody in the show knew he was one, maybe only his wife, and maybe that was the reason, why she became one living walking corpse...
Then... the interesting part was the husband/wife relationship between Lester and Carolyn...
Carolyn seemed to be a successful working woman, and was working to be even more successful...
She has taken control over the family... she spoke to Lester (her own husband) like speaking to her kid... and for me, even if I am her kid, I do not want to hear my mother speak to me like that... as in, it's monologue, not dialogue, she would tell you, "don't be crazy!", "don't be silly!", "don't do that!", "you spill beer on the couch", "you changed the car without consulting me?" (which she didn't even drive), "don't speak like that in front of our daughter" (who's already a high-school teenage girl)...
Then... she started to have an affair, while still judging her own husband every day and night, picking on him (and never thought that, she's the one who's committed adultery).... she kept thinking that, Lester (her own husband) was not good at work, did not earn as much money as she did, was timid, was basically not much of use as a man, not smart, not hunky, well... seemed like, she thought that the husband was worth nothing...
I really found Carolyn irritating... for eg. the day when Lester quit his job, they started having dinner quietly together (speechless), until the daughter came back, Carolyn started by asking Jane, pretending to be nice and sweet, to ask the father, what had he done?
so, Lester told them what happened in the office, and then... Carolyn showed her true colour.. her true colour on how she viewed him, how she treated their marriage...
she started yelling, making sinister remarks and laughing at Lester (her own husband) ...
and she even interrupted Lester when Lester was trying to speak...
What I can see is, in this family, she's the only who can talk... not the others, that was the reason, why the daughter was kind of weird... she was rebellious, reserved and dark...
and for Lester...
well... the actor was Kevin Spacey... the main role was Lester... the story was kind of told by Lester... once in a while, I can hear his narration...
Lester changed the moment he met Angela... he was lusting for her...
From that very day onwards... he started to work out (so that he can look good naked) and started to (after 20 years of living under a tyrant female administration in the house) snap back to Carolyn... real snap back... Carolyn was very fumed up by his reaction, as she had been the 'queen' for many years...
while she (hai... this type of women!!) kept dating another man, she kept thinking herself as the VICTIM
so, near the ending of the show...
Carolyn was comtemplating to kill Lester (she just went for some shooting session, as introduced by her 'bed mate')...
The Col. thought that Ricky was having a relationship with Lester, while Ricky was actually selling dope, ya, he was a drug dealer, so, when the father (Col.) was beating him, he didn't bother (he couldn't, anyway) to explain, as either one of the reason, will cause the father to kill him...
in a way... it's his luck that, he didn't tell the father the truth, as in, he was working part-time as a drug dealer (oh!! besides the fact that, he was a drug dealer, I actually think that, he's the ONLY one that's normal in this show and actually he was quite a good kid... even though he was also kinda weird, he liked to film things, anything... anything that NORMALLY, a normal person won't film, for eg. a dead bird, plastic bag blown by the wind, and he kept filming Jane before they started the relationship, he called these, these things that he filmed, 'beautiful'... well... I guess, that's the meaning of the title?)
Didn't bother to explain to the abusive military father, he just admit that he was having a relationship with Lester...
yep, I think, actually he got away with this excuse... rather than the other excuse, that he was the drug dealer..
Why?...
cos, the suppressed depressed Col. was in fact a super suppressive homosexual guy...
and that cost Lester his life..
after speaking with the son, the Col. actually thought he had found his new love... or somebody who could share with him, so, he went to Lester...
and... Lester rejected him...
At the end of the show...
A gun pointing at Lester's head, while he was looking into his family photo... relaxing, and SHOOT! (for a while, I thought this is quite sad, and I think, the is the ONLY one part of the show that I actually appreciate)
and the wife, still not knowing the husband was killed, wanted to, or not wanted to... to kill her own husband...
finally, cowardly, she hurried up to her bedroom and hid the gun...
Ah... one thing I forgot to mention... just before Lester was killed, he actually HAD a chance to be with Angela... until Angela actually confessed to him that, that was her first time... instantly... I saw him, back to his normal, nice guy self... (actually I think, he was, I mean, who can tolerate such wife and such spoilt daughter for so long... so many years) and back to his, 'fatherly' feature... he pulled the break, and started to treat Angela just like his own daughter... then.. ya, then, he took the family photo and stared at it, remember how beautiful the good old days were...
I really thought that.. this movie did quite resemble some of those japanese movie that I have watched, as well as the way they did with the soundtrack...
in the end... Lester was still narating... even after he was killed.. well... that's the way how the show was made...
he said something like this, that explained the final moment of his, why he looked relaxed, and was back to the normal good guy self, (I wouldn't say I can quote exactly)
he mentioned something like... "one can't be mad for too long, after a while, you'll feel tired..." and... something like... for a moment, he saw everything was so beautiful, yellow leaves, and so on..., so beautiful that, he felt like a baloon that was going to burst...
ah... ya, something like that...
I think, that somehow explained the last moment of his, ie. calm, peace and forgive, and love...
but then, it was sad, as immediately.. or in fact, just when he was thinking about all these... these BEAUTIFUL things... (ah! I think, that's the meaning of "American Beauty"?) the Col. shot him on the back of his head...
This movie was made in 1999, I watched it once since then... till today, it was the second time I watched it...
I didn't like it when I watched it back in 1999... didn't know what the movie was trying to say... maybe I was disillusioned too much by the word "American Beauty", and this blonde girl, Angela, in the show, trying to play sexy too much... What I saw was plain blonde girl trying to flirt around to prove herself, and a depressed cum supressed father/husband...
However.. today, when the show just started..
I was quite surprised of how much I can still remember, except the ending...
I still don't like the show, it's too dark... but then.. maybe after all these years, I have watched quite a different varieties of shows, then... I found myself being able to keep up with the pace and the mood in the show...
I still don't like the show...
and maybe because I have watched too many of those japanese movies that explore the darkside of human... and that, I somehow found some similarities between this "American Beauty" and those that I have watched, (japanese movies)... this is one of the rare show from hollywood, that explore the darkside, so much, in such slow pace... and, without much violence...
Characters:-
The family with Lester(Father), Carolyn(Mother), Jane(daughter, teenage)
A neighbour family with a military colonel(I cannot remember his name), his son Ricky, and his wife(who looked stoned, sick all the time, even forgetful, like she's not living in this world anymore, and sometimes sat there just like a vegetable)
When I watched it in 1999, I didn't see what I see today...
When I watched in 1999, it was just purely about the blonde girl, Angela (I thought she was the "American Beauty") like to boast about her love life (which she actually did not have any) and that, the mother Carolyn having an affair...
That could be the reason, I really didn't know where this show was going to...
Tonight...
I saw suppression and struggles... nobody in there was happy with who they were, or the life they were in, and the struggle between Carolyn and Lester, ie. a husband and wife issue
then, between Ricky and his Col. father... a father who ever thinks like, talks like, teaches his kids like, treats himself like, sees the world like a military man... he said loudly after beating up Ricky, "You can't just do whatever you wanted to do, the world has rule!!"
Early in the morning at the breakfast table, the Col. would read the newspaper and cursed the world... the mother, who's like a walking corpse, without a soul, would never remember what Ricky eats, or doesn't eat... and she would still cook then, cos, she was like totally out of her mind living a walking corpse life...
In the end, I figured out, the father was the main problem in the family, a man who shed thick and heavy dark shadow on the family... first, be his military background (maybe he was tortured enough, or maybe he had been to some life/death situation) but most importantly was his suppressed homosexuality...
Nobody in the show knew he was one, maybe only his wife, and maybe that was the reason, why she became one living walking corpse...
Then... the interesting part was the husband/wife relationship between Lester and Carolyn...
Carolyn seemed to be a successful working woman, and was working to be even more successful...
She has taken control over the family... she spoke to Lester (her own husband) like speaking to her kid... and for me, even if I am her kid, I do not want to hear my mother speak to me like that... as in, it's monologue, not dialogue, she would tell you, "don't be crazy!", "don't be silly!", "don't do that!", "you spill beer on the couch", "you changed the car without consulting me?" (which she didn't even drive), "don't speak like that in front of our daughter" (who's already a high-school teenage girl)...
Then... she started to have an affair, while still judging her own husband every day and night, picking on him (and never thought that, she's the one who's committed adultery).... she kept thinking that, Lester (her own husband) was not good at work, did not earn as much money as she did, was timid, was basically not much of use as a man, not smart, not hunky, well... seemed like, she thought that the husband was worth nothing...
I really found Carolyn irritating... for eg. the day when Lester quit his job, they started having dinner quietly together (speechless), until the daughter came back, Carolyn started by asking Jane, pretending to be nice and sweet, to ask the father, what had he done?
so, Lester told them what happened in the office, and then... Carolyn showed her true colour.. her true colour on how she viewed him, how she treated their marriage...
she started yelling, making sinister remarks and laughing at Lester (her own husband) ...
and she even interrupted Lester when Lester was trying to speak...
What I can see is, in this family, she's the only who can talk... not the others, that was the reason, why the daughter was kind of weird... she was rebellious, reserved and dark...
and for Lester...
well... the actor was Kevin Spacey... the main role was Lester... the story was kind of told by Lester... once in a while, I can hear his narration...
Lester changed the moment he met Angela... he was lusting for her...
From that very day onwards... he started to work out (so that he can look good naked) and started to (after 20 years of living under a tyrant female administration in the house) snap back to Carolyn... real snap back... Carolyn was very fumed up by his reaction, as she had been the 'queen' for many years...
while she (hai... this type of women!!) kept dating another man, she kept thinking herself as the VICTIM
so, near the ending of the show...
Carolyn was comtemplating to kill Lester (she just went for some shooting session, as introduced by her 'bed mate')...
The Col. thought that Ricky was having a relationship with Lester, while Ricky was actually selling dope, ya, he was a drug dealer, so, when the father (Col.) was beating him, he didn't bother (he couldn't, anyway) to explain, as either one of the reason, will cause the father to kill him...
in a way... it's his luck that, he didn't tell the father the truth, as in, he was working part-time as a drug dealer (oh!! besides the fact that, he was a drug dealer, I actually think that, he's the ONLY one that's normal in this show and actually he was quite a good kid... even though he was also kinda weird, he liked to film things, anything... anything that NORMALLY, a normal person won't film, for eg. a dead bird, plastic bag blown by the wind, and he kept filming Jane before they started the relationship, he called these, these things that he filmed, 'beautiful'... well... I guess, that's the meaning of the title?)
Didn't bother to explain to the abusive military father, he just admit that he was having a relationship with Lester...
yep, I think, actually he got away with this excuse... rather than the other excuse, that he was the drug dealer..
Why?...
cos, the suppressed depressed Col. was in fact a super suppressive homosexual guy...
and that cost Lester his life..
after speaking with the son, the Col. actually thought he had found his new love... or somebody who could share with him, so, he went to Lester...
and... Lester rejected him...
At the end of the show...
A gun pointing at Lester's head, while he was looking into his family photo... relaxing, and SHOOT! (for a while, I thought this is quite sad, and I think, the is the ONLY one part of the show that I actually appreciate)
and the wife, still not knowing the husband was killed, wanted to, or not wanted to... to kill her own husband...
finally, cowardly, she hurried up to her bedroom and hid the gun...
Ah... one thing I forgot to mention... just before Lester was killed, he actually HAD a chance to be with Angela... until Angela actually confessed to him that, that was her first time... instantly... I saw him, back to his normal, nice guy self... (actually I think, he was, I mean, who can tolerate such wife and such spoilt daughter for so long... so many years) and back to his, 'fatherly' feature... he pulled the break, and started to treat Angela just like his own daughter... then.. ya, then, he took the family photo and stared at it, remember how beautiful the good old days were...
I really thought that.. this movie did quite resemble some of those japanese movie that I have watched, as well as the way they did with the soundtrack...
in the end... Lester was still narating... even after he was killed.. well... that's the way how the show was made...
he said something like this, that explained the final moment of his, why he looked relaxed, and was back to the normal good guy self, (I wouldn't say I can quote exactly)
he mentioned something like... "one can't be mad for too long, after a while, you'll feel tired..." and... something like... for a moment, he saw everything was so beautiful, yellow leaves, and so on..., so beautiful that, he felt like a baloon that was going to burst...
ah... ya, something like that...
I think, that somehow explained the last moment of his, ie. calm, peace and forgive, and love...
but then, it was sad, as immediately.. or in fact, just when he was thinking about all these... these BEAUTIFUL things... (ah! I think, that's the meaning of "American Beauty"?) the Col. shot him on the back of his head...
2006-09-13
Law & Order - Birthright... (Season 6)
Actually.. this was the first episode of my encounterment with Law & Order: SVU
It's about a mother, who's recently lost both husband and daughter...
somehow found out that her previos fertility doctor, stole her egg and sell it to another woman...
still having the pain of loosing loved ones, and suddenly found another living daughter in the other side of the town...
she was trying very hard to claim custody of the newly found daughter..
and of course, this stirred up the other family... who's been living peacefully and happily together...
the mother, having gone crazy all over about this one remaining daughter, insisted on not giving it up..
......
finally it came to court, and the DA who was on this case, didn't know what to do... as, even though the birth mother/family will win the case, but the biological mother will always come to disturb and family and not leave them in peace...
but then... ah.. the part that I liked, (again)
while the DA was confused and had lost her direciton, one of the detective on this case, Det. Elliot Stabler came to talk to her..
he did admit that, he knew how the biological mother feel, especially after she's lost all her close family members... and if he knows that, he also have a child somewhere on the other side of the town, he'll fight his way to it...
after a quiet while, he said to the DA:"King Solomon said, "Bring me a sword. Divide the living child in two. Give half to one mother, half to the other."
then, still confused, the DA said:"Except I can't split the baby. "
but then... Det. Stabler replied:"Solomon didn't have to. "
(I have quoted the Solomon story before, in one of my review.. 1 King 3:16-28)
In the end.. in the courtroom..
the DA did this 'trick', she made the little girl, 6 years old, to testify... asked her how she felt about the biological mother (as she's been kidnapped by her and spent a few days together) and asked if she wants to leave her birth mother and live with her biological mother... (well... of course, the little girl was not explained or mentioned with the words "biological mother" and "birth mother")
then, the girl start crying sorrowfully.. saying that, she doesn't dislike her (the biological mother) but why would she have to leave her own mother... and couldn't stop crying...
then!!! the biological mother, who's been trying to hard to fight for her... stood up, crying, told everybody in the courtroom to stop doing that to her little girl and that she wouldn't want to go through all these to fight for her anymore.....
It's about a mother, who's recently lost both husband and daughter...
somehow found out that her previos fertility doctor, stole her egg and sell it to another woman...
still having the pain of loosing loved ones, and suddenly found another living daughter in the other side of the town...
she was trying very hard to claim custody of the newly found daughter..
and of course, this stirred up the other family... who's been living peacefully and happily together...
the mother, having gone crazy all over about this one remaining daughter, insisted on not giving it up..
......
finally it came to court, and the DA who was on this case, didn't know what to do... as, even though the birth mother/family will win the case, but the biological mother will always come to disturb and family and not leave them in peace...
but then... ah.. the part that I liked, (again)
while the DA was confused and had lost her direciton, one of the detective on this case, Det. Elliot Stabler came to talk to her..
he did admit that, he knew how the biological mother feel, especially after she's lost all her close family members... and if he knows that, he also have a child somewhere on the other side of the town, he'll fight his way to it...
after a quiet while, he said to the DA:"King Solomon said, "Bring me a sword. Divide the living child in two. Give half to one mother, half to the other."
then, still confused, the DA said:"Except I can't split the baby. "
but then... Det. Stabler replied:"Solomon didn't have to. "
(I have quoted the Solomon story before, in one of my review.. 1 King 3:16-28)
In the end.. in the courtroom..
the DA did this 'trick', she made the little girl, 6 years old, to testify... asked her how she felt about the biological mother (as she's been kidnapped by her and spent a few days together) and asked if she wants to leave her birth mother and live with her biological mother... (well... of course, the little girl was not explained or mentioned with the words "biological mother" and "birth mother")
then, the girl start crying sorrowfully.. saying that, she doesn't dislike her (the biological mother) but why would she have to leave her own mother... and couldn't stop crying...
then!!! the biological mother, who's been trying to hard to fight for her... stood up, crying, told everybody in the courtroom to stop doing that to her little girl and that she wouldn't want to go through all these to fight for her anymore.....
姊姊妹妹站起來!!! Get Up!! Sisters!!!
I have always like to watch crime shows...
why?
well... maybe it's more thrill, however... I guess most likely it's because I am interested of the reason, why a person would be willing to take away another person's life... a simple reason... cos... it's an area that I don't quite understand...
I know those CSI series/franchises are pretty famous...
however... recently I have come across another series/franchise that are pretty good... Law and Order... and which is a shame, that, it's not shown in my own home country... :-(
Law & Order is a type of crime investigation show, however, they put the investigation and persecution together.. ie. you can't just catch a person, and then thinking of 'case closed', there are still lots of follow up to do, and criminals need to be persecuted and put into the jail... thus, Law & Order is a series that, somehow show you from A-Z :-)
The episode that I watched the other day, was "Outcry" (season 6) Law & Order: SVU (Special Victim Unit)
It started with a girl claimed to have been raped... with all the bruises and cuts on her... and apparently in shock...
after a few days...
when asked further, she pointed her finger to the marine/military cadets...
after another few days...
when asked even further, she said she make the story up, there's no such thing..
but the female officer however believes that, the gal (16 years old) was indeed raped... that she didn't make the story up...
so, she tried to explain and convinced the gal to stand up and bring the case up to court.. which is hard for a 16-year-old gal...
the female detective (Det. Olivia Benson) said one thing to her... "I've never met a victim who testified against their attacker and regretted it afterwards."
finally, the little girl bravely stood up!!
(apparently it's the step father's boss who did it, but she's threatened that, if she bleated it out, the step father will be sacked and at that time, the mother was pregnant with baby, so, she didn't want to add more burden to the family)
Sadly... as evidence was not enough, and that, the record that the girl had been lying and lying again, so the jury decided not to believe her... and that the defender, was found not guilty...
The greatest part of the show, that moved me... was the last scene in fact.. :-)
when the girl stepped out from the court room with her step father, and with those police officers..
one girl came up to her and hold her hand and said "thank you" to her...
then the girl went to the detectives and told them that, she wanted to file a rape report... that took place 6 months ago...
and the person who did it.. was XXX (the same guy, who was just found not guilty... who's also just stepped out from the courtroom)
Really... most of the time... only girls can help girls...
and those who're willing to share their painful story, in order to help (not to gain sympathethy.. oh... I hate this type of personality... always talks pathetic, always want to gain your sympathy to feed her hunger of 'energy'... :-) if u do read about Celestine Prophecy) are highly respectable..
as not many women, girls are brave enough to bear their 'wounds' and 'shame' to the society...
however... there are always brave people who are willing to do so, that will inspire the rest...
why?
well... maybe it's more thrill, however... I guess most likely it's because I am interested of the reason, why a person would be willing to take away another person's life... a simple reason... cos... it's an area that I don't quite understand...
I know those CSI series/franchises are pretty famous...
however... recently I have come across another series/franchise that are pretty good... Law and Order... and which is a shame, that, it's not shown in my own home country... :-(
Law & Order is a type of crime investigation show, however, they put the investigation and persecution together.. ie. you can't just catch a person, and then thinking of 'case closed', there are still lots of follow up to do, and criminals need to be persecuted and put into the jail... thus, Law & Order is a series that, somehow show you from A-Z :-)
The episode that I watched the other day, was "Outcry" (season 6) Law & Order: SVU (Special Victim Unit)
It started with a girl claimed to have been raped... with all the bruises and cuts on her... and apparently in shock...
after a few days...
when asked further, she pointed her finger to the marine/military cadets...
after another few days...
when asked even further, she said she make the story up, there's no such thing..
but the female officer however believes that, the gal (16 years old) was indeed raped... that she didn't make the story up...
so, she tried to explain and convinced the gal to stand up and bring the case up to court.. which is hard for a 16-year-old gal...
the female detective (Det. Olivia Benson) said one thing to her... "I've never met a victim who testified against their attacker and regretted it afterwards."
finally, the little girl bravely stood up!!
(apparently it's the step father's boss who did it, but she's threatened that, if she bleated it out, the step father will be sacked and at that time, the mother was pregnant with baby, so, she didn't want to add more burden to the family)
Sadly... as evidence was not enough, and that, the record that the girl had been lying and lying again, so the jury decided not to believe her... and that the defender, was found not guilty...
The greatest part of the show, that moved me... was the last scene in fact.. :-)
when the girl stepped out from the court room with her step father, and with those police officers..
one girl came up to her and hold her hand and said "thank you" to her...
then the girl went to the detectives and told them that, she wanted to file a rape report... that took place 6 months ago...
and the person who did it.. was XXX (the same guy, who was just found not guilty... who's also just stepped out from the courtroom)
Really... most of the time... only girls can help girls...
and those who're willing to share their painful story, in order to help (not to gain sympathethy.. oh... I hate this type of personality... always talks pathetic, always want to gain your sympathy to feed her hunger of 'energy'... :-) if u do read about Celestine Prophecy) are highly respectable..
as not many women, girls are brave enough to bear their 'wounds' and 'shame' to the society...
however... there are always brave people who are willing to do so, that will inspire the rest...
I always remember this sentences...
"Some people make things happen.
Some people wait for things to happen.
Then there are those that say - what happened!"
Anonymous
"Some people make things happen.
Some people wait for things to happen.
Then there are those that say - what happened!"
Anonymous
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)