Post-Script: Moving Links

Here I post many links that may have slipped your interest over the season that you've been reading this blog, however long that might have been.

Meng Chwen's Wedding Photography
This is my brother's online portfolio for his freelance wedding photography work. It didn't use to be very relevant, but seeing that more and more of my friends are considering getting married some time in the future, and that the 'm' word is becoming increasingly commonplace in our vocabulary, I figure you wannabes will need a photographer. So check him out. Good work guaranteed. I would know, I'm the brother. Hah.

Sze Ning's website
If you are interested in things that are not wedding related, try out Sze Ning's website. She's more of the nature-nature kind of girl, which might suit your fancy. Her pictures are very good, and I remember doing some crazy shots with her. Mostly, she's hot, and she doesn't mind being terribly vain on her blog, so you get some free camwhoring environmentalist pictures on her site. She's pretty accomplished too, physically at least, as she has threatened to beat me up many times before.

Neil Gaiman's journal
These days it's not too terribly fun anymore, but every now and then there are still a few good posts. If it's your first time visiting his website, go check out the 'stories' section and read his essays and short stories. Very the good. By the way, he wrote Beowulf, so WATCH IT!!!

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The Mental Toys

When I was small, I had the tendency to destroy my toys. I wasn't the sort of kid who knew the value of an unwrapped or a shiny-scratchless toy. I used to have a Thundercats sword, and my cousin had one too. My mother would tell me after some months about my cousin kept his sword nicely, occasionally taking it out to have a good look at it, then point to my sword, and noted how battered it had already become, like it has seen actual battle.

Then there were a few other Thundercat toys, one or two Transformers, a ton of military vehicles, armies of infantry, grenade launchers, and a zoo's worth of animals (they don't make toys like they do anymore I think). I took a lot of pride in destroying the toys, which is partly why I don't have a great collection of ancient toys. My once vast World War 2 battalion is left with perhaps 5 or 6 veterans (the rest are in peace (or pieces)). I made them fight. I made them heroes with scars. A hand torn. A leg dismembered. A head severed.

I didn't know the value of toys. Not that I regret it. The way I handled my toys reminds me a little of what I'm like. I'm always trying to make things real. Make things happen. Always imagining, and sometimes taking it too far. And sometimes being unreasonably illogical. [I could give the example of my brother, who had the habit of painting my toys, and his toys, and all his models, not in a sparkly clean way, but in a detailed 'used' and worn-out way. He was very meticulous in making things look used, and cool, at the same time.] It doesn't mean I didn't love my toys, because I did. It's just that I saw it fit that I disfigured them, because that, to me, was their purpose.

Then naturally, over the years, we put the toys in boxes. Closets. And mostly, I don't miss them. They've done their job. It's really just time to put them away, and get excited about new things.

The physical toys, and the mental toys.

The Mental Toys: Intended for larger things

'My muscles couldn't keep up with my bones, and my bones couldn't keep up with my body's ambition. So I spent the better part of three years confined to my bed, with the World Book Encyclopedia being my only means of exploration. I had made it all the way to the "g's," hoping to find an answer to my gigantification, when I uncovered an article about the common goldfish.

"Kept in a small bowl, the goldfish will remain small. With more space, the fish can grow double, triple, or quadruple its size."

'It occured to me then, that perhaps the reason for my growth was that I was intended for larger things. After all, a giant man can't have an ordinary-sized life.'

- From Big Fish. The most inspirational movie, in an entertaining way.

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Kept in a small bowl, the goldfish will remain small. With more space, the fish can grow double, triple, or quadruple its size.

It occured to me then, that perhaps the reason for my growth was that I was intended for larger things. After all, a giant man can't have an ordinary-sized life.

Intended for larger things.
Ordinary-sized life.

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And I wish that were true.

The Mental Toys: Domenech the Stupid (2)/Ick

I know I should spend my blog-space cheering for the deservingly mighty WORLD CHAMPIONS, but let me remind the readers of how stupid Raymond Domenech is.

He dropped my favorite French player for the upteenth time from the French national team. David Trezeguet, 10 goals in 11 matches for Juventus so far, easily the most potent finisher in Italy, possibly among the best in Europe. And he won't be playing against Ukraine. So let's hope for France to have no bite next week.

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I am glad Donadoni is not saying much about the Scotland game. I am anxious. The WORLD CHAMPIONS have an incredibly tricky game to secure qualification. One can only hope that Italy goes all out to do what they do best. Shut out the enemy and go for a 0-0 draw. If they can dive and nail a penalty that would be great, too.

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The Phoenix Suns is off to a not so great start. But they will pick up eventually. I'm not very worried.

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Tomorrow is Tung Ling alumni dinner. Am very the excited as it will be a chance to meet friends and more friends.

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Transport is an unpleasant disaster as a whole. I try not to talk about it publicly, but I am generally very irritated every Saturday and Sunday. And on other days I'm irritated because I know I'll be irritated on Saturday and Sunday. So that must sound like I'm perpetually irritated.

And people kinda mix me and Daniel up, calling us on wrong days. And calling me a day earlier knowing full well I don't take anything down because I'm usually trying to fulfill other commitments.

But that's that.

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I spent the last two days writing quite a lot of different things. Been a while since I felt productive. Some for official business, some for personal pleasures.

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Susanna made me addicted to a new game. It's called 4 second something. It's here.
http://www.jmtb02.com/flash/foursecondfrenzy.htm

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Watch Stardust. It's a very good love story.

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Look! Something is happening.

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And a quick update. I finally got forced into buying a striped shirt. Hurrah for the girl.

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The Mental Toys: I Support The Golden Compass!!!

Stardust is very good. Apart from the less inspiring change in ending (which is still nice), the movie is one of those love stories that holds my heart and spins my head into a childish frenzy. Yes. Watch. Easily 9.9578563/10.

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The fuss about The Golden Compass irritates me just about as much as the fuss about The DaVinci Code about a year ago. I firmly believe there is a tremendous amount of power that can be generated with silence and conscious ignorance. I am a Christian. I naturally am displeased with the themes found in The Da Vinci Code and The Golden Compass, and even Harry Potter. I generally discourage children from watching these things (although yes, I do read and watch some of these things to know exactly what the fuss is about, but that too, is changing within me). Yes I do think it is an abomination to write about these things. Yes I do think that these books contain lies that are severe and very very damaging to people's lives.

But I would rather not give these books and movies free publicity. I sometimes think that street protests and massive online campaigns to boycott certain shows and movies contribute largely to these films' overall revenue, thanks to stirring intrigue and interest.

A very nice example would be a recent local documentary, The Last Communist. It was banned in Malaysia for literal reasons. I'll be frank and tell you that the pirates will sell it well. People will order it off the net, bring it in from other shores, and watch it. Because it was so openly critisized and scrutinized and reported in many major newspapers.

Now let's be honest and realistic here. If no one said a thing about it, it would've screened in the cinemas to a small audience, create almost no fuss, and pass on into the archives of completed films in two weeks. End of story. No controversy.

I'll address this issue once. I might address again it in the far future. But I don't want to be wasting my words and time and effort and money shouting out protests and appeals for boycotts because quite honestly, it's really stupid. It's free publicity for things I don't like.

Sometimes we need to make a stand, don't get me wrong. But most of the time, seriously, we need to just take no heed, and let it pass. And you'll realize that nobody cares.

Yes, Nicole Kidman and all that jazz will make people watch it anyway. Bla bla bla. But for goodness sake, stop highlighting the whole atheist thing. If you highlight it, and a kid chooses to watch it anyway, that will be the only bloody (mind my language) thing they will see in the show. Opening your big mouth is sometimes the biggest harm you can do about these things.

Again, sometimes, I think, we need to make a stand. Most times, shutting up would do.

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And anyway.

It's just my personal observation, and my personal stand. Feel free to be offended. Feel free to take it personally. Because even if I said don't take it personally, some people would take it personally anyway. So I might as well go with the flow. Hah.