5 Favourite Words

While we are in this postmodern era of visual-worshiping, let's not forget that books have changed the world more than movies do. (Of course, books contain pictures and movies contain words, but you know what I mean.) So, let's take a break from pictures and Youtube today. Just words, words, words.

Words like people, food and music, I prefer some over others.

My top five likings, in no particular order:

LOVE – Simply for what it is and everything that goes with it.

ACQUIESCE – Learned from an Oasis song Masterplan: "...cast your words away upon the waves, bring them back with Acquiesce, on a ship of hope today". Haven't got a clue what it means. Just love the phonetic beauty of the word– act-queer-us. Uhm...

DESPERATE – We need to be sometimes.

PARADOX – Some words just look like the way they mean and mean like the way they look. This is one. Paradox ends with "X", which to me looks like two arrows going against each others (><) – a powerful symbol of contradiction. Above all, I have this compulsory obsession with everything paradoxical – from a quote, an image to a Margritte painting. (I desperately love to have another blog solely for it.)

ETHEREAL – It's ethereal.

A word knows how to paint too.

Abstract Beauty

When I was an art student, once my art tutor asked me why I didn't paint abstract arts. I replied with some naivety, "To me, everything I look at can be an abstract art – a stained wall, a rusted steel. What's the point of making more?"

Of course, now I know things are more complicated (or cultivated) than that. But I still believe there were some truth in it. If you look at something harder and longer enough, you can discover art in almost anything.

If you don't believe me, take a simple test. Look at your palm. Look, like you've never seen it before. Stare at it. Gaze upon it. Follow every whorls and lines. Let them tell you that this is your hand – the very hand that you made the first touch, held your love one's, and probably felt the first pain.

For a moment. Take everything in. Now "screen cap" this image, imagine you can blow it up and frame it on a pure white gallery wall. Behold. it is a beautiful piece of art. (By the help of Lady Fame, it could be auctioned for a fortune.)

To further prove my point, can you tell what the below image is?


Take a deep breath and click this link to find out. (Hint: it's beauty above all.)

Travis rocks

It's the Autumn of '97, a girl told me this band rocked. Heard this song, loved them ever since.

Back then, Fran (the lead singer) got more hair and looked like the son of his present self. Oh dear.

On 31st this month, I'm going to see their gig at the AsiaWorld Arena in Hong Kong. With the girl. Now my wife.

Cornstarch's Resume

Name: Corn Starch
Date of Birth: Refer to package
Sex: Desexed by now
Marital Status: Separated
Nationality: Mexican

Education:
None except the fact that I've been through hell tortured by hours and hours of soaking, grinding and dehydration before becoming who I am today – fine, very fine.

Qualification:
Member of Non-Newtonian Fluid

Work Experience:
I work mainly in a kitchen as a thickener, binder and baking flour. I'm a good team-worker. I mix well with others like water, different sauces and other fellow flours. I've actively participated with enormous contribution in many highly successful and delicious recipes. Examples listed below.

Hors d'oeuvre and Soups:
Prawn Toast, Eggplant Tempura, Hot Sole Mousse with Creamed Watercress, Cream of Artichoke Soup, Chicken & Sweetcorn Soup. (Too much to mention, in fact all kinds of Campbell soup if you insist to know.)

Main Courses:
Grouse with Pear Sauce, Pizza Base, Beef with Orange, Oregano Braised Lamb. (To mention but a few.)

Desserts Cake and Bakes (My Specialties):
Couscous Pudding, Portuguese Cream, Mini Shortbreads, Spiced Sponge, Creme Caramel, Black Forest Cherry Cake, Oeufs a la Neige. (The list can go on and on.)

Ambition and Dream:
Not to be swallowed in sauce, soup or your stomach. But to be free in water and soundwave and freaking DANCE! My awesome Oobleck Dance! (A sample attached.)

Bubbly Bubbly Happy

It's like colour bubbles floating in liquid air. Happy!

Not getting enough?



OK, got addicted?



It could be one of those Sony Bravia TVCs (Balls, Paints and Play Doh). There's just something in common. If you haven't seen one, here's more stop-motion, colours, joyfulness, and bunnies – lots and lots of them.

Beautifully Dissected

Not a piece of conceptual art. It's a dissected Leica lens. Looking through it, you capture your image perfect. Cutting through it, a beautiful work of art by itself.

It's funny how things can get really unfamiliar and strange when we see them in a different light.

This prompted me to Google the words "Dissected" and "Cross-section" and see if there's any weird or beautiful image popping up. Here are some of my picks. (Actually I ended up getting most good ones from Flickr.)

Grab a chainsaw (or borrow a laser gun if you can). Cut everything up, every　　　　thing shows up.

Apply to human too, metaphorically speaking, of course.

The Selfish Gene

This morning, when I was walking out of Starbucks with my blueberry muffin, a lady in front of me stopped and sided before the exit door, expecting me to open it for her. Hurriedly in automatic mode, I pushed the door open and she followed me out without a slight sign of gratitude.

After thought: I still would have acted generously if I had paused and examined exactly what was happening.

I feel sorry for her, for Hong Kong generally. Having lived in London, one virtue that really impressed me was how people of all classes (which they're so obsessed with) hold the door for others even someone is miles away approaching. Don't expect the same here. Instead you will find comical scenario where upon the first person opening the door, the others after will slip past it with silky moves comparable to those of Ronaldo, until, the door is closing to an impenetrable state. Then the cycle starts all over again.

It's funny. It's sad. Imagine this one particular moment of selfishness (or just utter laziness), multiplies by a thousand times, to become the total sum of all she does in her life. What would that be? A negative number, not even a zero.

I don't want to be self-righteous, feel superior and pass judgement on others. I want this to be my own exhortation. It's certainly not some big, philosophical teaching I discovered myself that I want to preach to others. (it's called Altruism, I learned.) No. I just don't want to waste my life DOING NOTHING. To me, that act of not opening the door for others and myself is DOING NOTHING. I may think it's doing me good, saving me some energy?...(I can't even think of anything else.) But in fact I have done NOTHING valuable to even my very ME.

"Hey you
Threw it all away
By holding everything in
...
a perfect combination of good etiquette and charm
You keep the chocolate biscuits wired to a car alarm
Oooooooooh
Selfish Jean"

Fran Healy, Travis