Green Technology?

i read Borneo Post online daily (or when i can) to get the local news and DE for my homestate news. from BP online today, SMK Lutong in Miri, Sarawak joined the Green School Campaign by KeTTHA (kementerian Tenaga, Teknologi Hijau dan Air). currently, only 5 schools enrolled in the campaign. none in Sabah.

green technology interest me. and i hope its not a quick fading fads. i'm writing a proposal to do research on "penglibatan komuniti dalam meningkatkan kualiti alam sekitar". i miss chasing adrenaline rush, and living high on steroids. poring over heaps of intricate facts and trying to fashion its up to a meaningful output sound like high dosage of steroids, i'm keen on trying. i'm on my way to heaven (reading frenzy).

Malaysia is on the right track of starting to go for green technology. as long as its not a quick fading fads, we'll eventually arrive somewhere. i've read the National GT policy and its quite impressive. but, as the saying goes, easier said than done, i wish those people knew what they're handling and where they're going to steer our country to. (hint: just press on the economic and social benefits. the donkeys will follow the carrot sticks). yes, we the donkeys.

i have more faith in the realization of building a greener Malaysia than in experimenting to make genius Malaysian as in permatapintar, run by genius people?. so said, the donkey's opinion.

train-ing

things i sorely miss in the big city: easier and cheaper access to books. theatre. vast choices of good food. and trains. yes, i love commuting. i used to go de-stress myself riding a deserted train during mid-day. i'd bought a ticket from UKM to Kajang, but, instead, i'd went the other way to Seremban (where there's practically nobody boarding the train). i'd read and try to think (daydream, actually*). then, i'd changed train at Tiroi to Kajang and went home to my first rented apartment in Jalan Reko. i enjoyed those rides very much.

i am in the city for a week and have to commute daily from UKM to Sg. Buloh. the journey took 11/2 hours and very tiring. how people cope with such arduous journey each day to work, completely awe me. i still enjoy commuting. but, i'd say, its heyday's over. not even ladies coach can revive the joy i felt years ago, riding a train. maybe i should go for cuti-cuti on a train and hope hard the driver will be someone famous like the train from JB to KL sentral yesterday.

i'll miss the commuter train all the same. because, in Borneo, our trains are a laughing matter (in a very embarrassing way). you can try to romanticize the old trains operating in Sabah, but, seriously, it's filthy and very unsafe for use, plus, its very uncomfortable. (why should i compare MALAYSIA to sabah and sarawak? (the terms a bit confusing eh?: Malaysia, termasuk Sabah dan Sarawak-as if there's any Malaysia without sabah and sarawak))

i truly appreciate the connection from LCCT to KLIA express train and for the ladies coach. fabulous!

i watched a russian movie on siberia prison camp a few weeks back. i cant recall the film's title. its cyrillic with no subtitle. it gave a new perspective to the terms prison and train. and white is no longer the sign of purity. its the new colour of loneliness. (ooo.. my train of thoughts)

not a pretty parrot

he is current and devilishly blunt. and he can afford to be so. he's not in the mainstream. he can be philosophical about his music or change his music affinity and live with it. because, simply put, he makes music for his own and not to please people. so, even when he made a statement like these: (check his last statement) -less interested in songwriting and more into just making noise. i'll stick to his works. (at least, his works before The Age of Adz).

nothing pleased me more than a fresh interpretation of anything. in the limited world of mine, he is a gush of fresh love of sound. i hate his vocal. its too thin and crisp. but, the music arrangement and the songwriting. i can go on listening to him for hours. (ya, i'm into corny lyrics!, shallow me)

rarely, especially in our country, do musicians/singers think and believe in something and transcend it to their works. but, yeah, pretty parrots will do. as long as we dont mind.

havent got the chance to really listen to The Age of Adz. go, listen to Sufjan Stevens. he is poison.

Land Below the Wind

"oh? what do you want?" came Harry's question.
"i dont know, but i guess that spirits arent as reliable as guts, Harry, and you've got guts"

Agnes Keith, Land Below the Wind (1939),

Pg294, Opus Publications (2010)

Times: RM44.00

i cried over (the above quoted). Obvious reason, aint me?

go on, read the book. its good. forgive the super-indon batik motif cover. i wonder who's responsible. this requires explanation.

i'd seen the book, sometimes, long ago and ignored it (mainly because it doesnt include any reference to plants biodiversity nor soil classification) which used to be my staple diet of reading. how on earth i managed to read St. John's Life in the forest of the Far East? if not for the regimented reading?

Tip of Borneo Music Fest

From Borneo Post online, today. from this year onwards, the Tip of Borneo Music Fest will be featured in Sabah Tourism calendar as a major tourism event. Yay!

this year, it'll be on 16-17/ july.

Outdoor music performances, beautiful sunset on a beautiful beach. i have no idea who'll be performing. last year, Jesselton philharmonic orchestra was there. this year, i hope, i'll be there to join the crowd, cheering and listening to good stuffs. what's more? it's FREE ADMISSION. just bring your own mats.

ya, check with these people regarding the music fest. there might be slight changes from what they offered last year.

A reminder: Miri Jazz Festival is sometime in October. never been. maybe this year should. i should.

make you feel my love

en route Ranau-KK, feb 05th 2011

i was home last week, holidaying. ate too much. watched more K-dramas with my younger sister than i can ever do in a year, alone. (and i said i'm cured from K-fever?). fat hopes. 16 episodes of MY GF GUMIHO.

My siblings did the Pirate of the Caribbean movie marathon using LCD projector, which worked awesome. We passed playing cards, not enough coins to bet on. Besides, Zombie vs Plants hooked two of our MVP of laplappu @ Chinese poker. quality time, eh?

I got Agnes Keith's Land below the wind from Popong. Asael taught me how to download free MP3 music. We talked books (toy soldier, time traveller's wife, the bad place) ended up telling him Indonesian tangon*. its good to have a brother who read. he's geeker than me.

And they laughed at my favourite: Adele's make you feel my love. rainy, cloudy, lonely. perfect song. aint it? i love..i love.. i love..

*tangon = Dusun for folklore

MOVIE: The Lake House (remake of Il Mare)

Original theatrical poster of Il Mare (2000)

I attended a Korean language introductory class in my long extended stay in the univ, years ago. As a prerequisite for the lesson, i watched a lot of K-dramas and movies. (apparently, i never really got a good footing at the language and i'm a cured person of K-fever!). One thing i learnt though, Korean really have a knack of filming good cinematographic movies with beautiful music to accompany.

Il Mare was a good example. a movie so complicated, i tried watching it 3 times, only to get more confused. i braved 3 times for that boring ordeal for the breath-taking views and the actor's facial expressions. Korean boys knew how to melt a girl's heart, i knew. (sigh!)

Original theatrical poster of the Lake House (2006)

So, i half expected the confusion when i watched the Lake House, a Hollywood film remake of the Korean Il Mare, starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. Read the plot here, and see the movie trailer here. i was mildly surprise at my own ability to accept the movie as it was. i thoroughly enjoyed the very romantic movie.

Maybe it was the cinematography and music in the film that nailed me down just right (even batter than Il Mare!). i am not a big fan of big city surrounding (not in real life, nor movie). But, its impossible not to love Chicago in this film, unbelievably beautiful buildings structure. Rachel Portman composed most of the songs featured in this movie, and she's brilliant!. The original soundtrack may available here. however, my favourite song was: i seem can't make you mine by the Clientele.

The time paradox proved to be really trying to my logical mind. But, never mind the logic. The gush of heart wrenching romantic longings the movie produced, was enough to banish logical thoughts. Try to get this for your Valentine's. It brings relief and gratitude to those who have somebody to snuggle with, watching. And it brings hope, to everbody else.

Happy holidays. Be safe. Love.

? MOYMOY PALABOY ?

So, i changed the layout, and the title with a description. (its really not fair, to give title 'just musing' for a blog-----> when the owner, herself rarely muse over things she wrote). in accordance with this year's resolution to keep things as simple as possible and to be concise as possible (mmph... no, it'll always be a murky posts). i try to narrow down the content of my entry to 3 topics; book, outdated movie and music. but, sometime, you know, i'll go rambling off topics. hey.. i'm trying.

some changes are good. hopefully, this is one of those, despite the geeker sound title.

and to qualify this post to the title, i'll give a link for my best discovery this week (its a cross of short movie + music). i'm intending to share these funny guys antics, monday. but, i'll be away monday. so here goes a link to their youtube crazies. dip in the treasures (it gets more than 16 mil view hits) and tell me what you think of them. (personally, i love their Bohemian Rhapsody piece the most)

O happy weekend guys. to those heading home for CNY/ holidays, safe journey.

MOVIE: Rabbit Hole

no? i want to talk book first, then movie.

in this post, i mentioned that i have problem reading autobiography. (please take note of the prefix used). i have more to confess: i dont read horror story nor voluntarily watch any horror movie. and that, not because i'm penakut. i just dont like it. (like prefering vanilla over chocolate icecream)

but, like, in every rules i made up for myself, i make exceptions. i did read Stoker's Dracula (mostly because i thought, its pretty important to know the history of that famous Count, and it's a good read). and ya, i make exceptions for all King's works (i ended up giving away most of my copies to people who enjoy the books much more than i did) i keep some; books by him but totally not him, like, the girl who loved Tom Gordon and Rose Madder (o..ok..the last one look likes his work),and my all time favourite, The Talisman.

in The Talisman, King and Straub coined the idea of parallel worlds, a possibility so alluring and plausible to me. i cried hard over Nicole Kidman's performance in Rabbit Hole, a movie so disturbing i choked on my roselle drink (ya, i concoted my own drink from that lovely calyx and its good) then spilled it over my lovely ironwood table, dribbled on my shirt and leave an ugly stain. O Hole! and the idea of parallel world? ooooo.. so comforting.

no musing last monday, the lord of internet (or rather, his humble modem and the serf at STREAMYX) didnt allow me to make any...ya, some broadband kelajuan tinggi.... I got that.

Youtube rules!

Caution! please dont click on the links provided if you are in a melancholic mood. These links are super-inducer to melancholism.

Jason Mraz: You and I Both

Mercy Me: Homesick

and Eva Cassidy, O! she's amazing! Song bird, Fields of Gold

and this. (i dont have TV, so i dont really follow Glee. but, i do know about their existence).

and to provide some balance in this somehow sappy post. go to this blog.

and this: keep on appearing in my mind

kaibigan @ kambingan

sometimes ago,

Popong, me and Dawn were seated at the back of a car. Jane was driving and Fread seated beside her. Popong were lolling beside me, and me and Dawn were talking about something totally forgetable matter (i cant recall it now). btw, she was sleepy too. its a very hot afternoon, and we've had a huge lunch a few minutes before. Jane and Fread were babbling about something like "....Melbourne to Sydney, kita naik flight la... dari Sydney... jetstar..... Virgin..." "....erry"

Me (the superstar of popping interrupting questions): Jen, mana kita mau naik ferry?

J: huh? kau cakap tidak jadi pigi Bako

D: kita pigi Bako?

F: ihhhh.. tiak maulah. panat pigi Bako

me: huh? tidaaaak... yang di Australia. mana kita mau naik ferry?

J: Australia? Ferry?

(here, we were almost talking simultaneously)

F: mana ada naik ferry? kita pakai flight la.

P: (with eyes shutted) huh? kenapa mau naik ferry?

me: (now, very confused) bukan ko sama Fread cakap tadi naik ferry ka?

J: kita ada cakap pasal naik ferry?

F: (grinning) kita cakap pasal Blackberry bah tadi. Astaga! Togou!

me: huh? Blackberry? ko dengar dorang cakap apa tadi? (looking hopelessly at Popong and Dawn)

P: saya dengar McFlurry

D: saya dengar Blackberry, tapi McFlurry pun ada juga

will i eventually go insane playing along with these idiots?

(i miss you guys so much. i keep on rewinding my mind on the above situation (the version i keep replaying in mind). each of you have the rights to deny/retell your own version) haha.. happy weekend kaibigan. God is awesome good!

BOOK: Stones into Schools

If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you might realize, most of the books mentioned here in this blog are fictions. and i have to confess, yes i mostly read fictions. because its much easier to read and entertaining (ooo.. dont we all love the idea of lite& easy?). and i dont need to keep on checking details and facts, absorbing the ideas and thinking about the contents (as i tend to do, reading non-fictions).

By reading fictions, we let our emotion rules. we dont really care about the facts, as long as its marginally believable, the plots gripping and the characters have character. we're hooked.

i have another thing to confess, i have problem reading autobiography. i just cant decide how to categorize them. but, i do read them and loathed most of them. some of the autobiographies i truly enjoyed were: A Malaysian Diplomat's Diary and Out of Africa. enough to say, i dont buy much autobiography. so, its not a surprise i missed Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. i bought his second book (mostly because somebody else co-wrote it) 'Stones into Schools' and deeply inspired by the efforts of this guy.

what he did was amazing. an ordinary guy, trying (at first, just to return kind favour) to do something small, contributing with what he have with passion and ended up doing extraordinary humanitarian efforts in the tumultuous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. His mantra " if you educate a boy, you educate an individual, but if you educate a girl, you educate a community". He completely won my heart over.

note to self: keep on doing those baby steps...

what's that? Elephant?

Edmund's Elephant

During the weekend, i read (finally finished) Othello and re-read Rob Yeung's The Rules Of Entrepreneurship. on it's slip cover, i jotted 'November 2008, KK'. old eh?

in the wake of my attention to entrepreneurship, i tried writing up a business plan. but, ended up, not convincing myself. the numbers are just too much too handle and the whole ideas are mind boggling. or to put it in a milder words: difficult to attain. argh! passion can wither when the going gets tough.

but then i remember a childish question of 'how to put an elephant into a refrigerator?'. answer: open the fridge, shove the elephant in, then shut the fridge. obvious answer? No. we, adult, have trained our mind to think in more complicated manner: how to chopped up the elephant? how to get an elephant in the first place? how to get a larger fridge to accomodate the bulk of an elephant? etc. now, think, is the question of how to put an elephant into a refrigerator even relevant?

in 'Othello', Othello suffered and died because he made the mistakes of making too much assumptions rather than, going to the source of his problem and he trusted the wrong person. Lesson? dont assume. get clear facts, reasoned and respond. we go back to that issue of an elephant and the refrigerator. we 'assumed' 'elephant' is an elephant, or/and the 'refrigerator' our normal refrigerator. assumption almost always leads to murky situation, which always ended not the way we intended.

Seriously, i'm trying to be practical here. i'm trying to get all the facts and build a solid plan for my venture. i am dead passionate about this and the mere thought of it make me more alive than ever. all i need now, is that tiny mustard seed size of faith to move some mountains. so, i'm shoving away all of my first assumption/plan and concentrate on a more factual, attainable, immediate goal.

All izz well.. all izz well... all izz well..idiots!