To Brisbane

Having spent enough time basking in the familiarity of an Asianized metropolitan Sydney, we decided to drive North to Brisbane via a detour to Toowoomba to see a friend before I arrive at Brisbane to spend time with my Aussie mate Daryll.The drive was approx. 850 kms via the Pacific Coast H'way. After the first 5 hours, we arrived at Port MacQuarie, a quaint little seaside holiday resort cum port. Home also to McQuarie University, there's a huge student population here. Spent the night at a motel after waking up the proprietress, who showed up in a bath robe. Haggled with her over the price of the accomodations, got the price we wanted, no breakfast and a room overlooking the main road. Pretty decent place to sleep in. Up at six the next morning and Coffs Harbour was our destination for breakfast.I drove most of the way up the coast, beautiful stretches of land and seascape interrupted by turfs of green meadows and forested creeks. Because of the strict speed limits, we drove at a leisurely pace taking in the expansive vistas and it was such a breeze that we made Coffs Harbour earlier than expected and decided to make for the much heralded Byron Bay for lunch instead. Lennox Head needs special mention as the sweeping views to the sea are spectacular.
Byron Bay was lovely as lunch, Fish Heads was the name of the restaurant where we had fresh Pacific rock oysters washed down with a very very nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc Semillion- Three Sisters from Victoria. Very satisfied. To wear down the effects of the alcohol, we took in the sights and side streets of Byron Bay.

Sydney

View from the apt. Finger Wharf in the foreground.

Had to attend a conference one weekend in Sydney. Gladly jumped at the chance and returned to a city I was last at 25 years ago. After a successful meeting, we moved into a friends studio apartment on Victoria St. in Potts Point very close to King's Cross. The balcony opened up to a view of the Harbour Bridge and part of the Opera House. 

And right in the forefront on the suburb of Wooloomooloo lies one of the most expensive piece of real estate in Sydney, Finger Wharf, an apartment complex on the pier where Russel Crowe lives. He supposedly bought his waterfront apartment for A$14M.

Sydney, city by the bay, hasn't changed much except for the skyline. The Harbour Bridge used to charge A$O.20c toll when I last visited now charges A$3.00. They still use the same unmanned toll collection mechanism. Just throw the coins into a large collection basket. 

More cosmopolitan now with a larger mix of Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Thais, Malaysians, Singaporeans, Indonesians. Sydney is even more chic, stylish, charming, exciting than ever before.

may i feel

Following my earlier post on the poetry of ee cummings here, 

I've stumbled upon yet another one of his love poems that borders more on the physical side of love that America's second most popular poet writes prolific. 

 

may i feel said he 

may i feel said he (i'll squeal said she, just once said he) 

it's fun said she (may i touch said he, how much said she, a lot said he) 

why not said she (let's go said he, not too far said she, what's too far said he, where you are said she) 

may i stay said he (which way said she, like this said he, if you kiss said she, may i move said he, is it love said she) 

if you're willing said he (but you're killing said she, but it's life said he, but your wife said she, now said he) 

ow said she (tiptop said he, don't stop said she, oh no said he) go slow said she, (cccome? said he, ummm said she) you're divine! said he (you are Mine said she)

Cummings always considered himself just as much a painter as he was a poet or writer. Especially in his later years, spent at his home in New Hampshire, Cummings would paint during the day and then write at night. Beginning with his years at Harvard and continuing on into the 1920s, Cummings identified with the artistic movements of Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism. He particularly admired the work of Pablo Picasso. 

 It's also his birthday today. Happy Birthday Edward Estlin Cummings. What a love fiend you are.

Best Picture

A picture tells a story. Some paint a vivid tale, some go on to document an event or a special moment. A good picture should actually ignite feelings in you to do things. Very few do all that I've mentioned. And this is one of the few. It just transforms my imagination and makes me want to don white cotton robes and traverse the desert with a camel train.
Look closely. Can you find the camels?
This is an aerial photograph of a herd of camels crossing the desert. The black parts are the shadows and the 'white' camels.
This is one of the best pictures of 2005 voted by National Geographic.

Imagine

Today is John Lennon's Birthday.

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


Who would have thought the Beatles, a 60's boy band, would make such an impact on the greater good.
What you have started, just like what Gandhi and Jon did, will never die.
'And the world will live as one.......................'

Happy Birthday John Lennon

World Population-2006

According to reference.com;

In 2006, the world population will exceed 6,500,000,000 and the United States population will exceed 300,000,000. Worldwide, there are 4.1 births per second and 1.8 deaths per second. In the United States, there is one birth every eight seconds and one death every 13 seconds. China has the world's largest population with over 1,300,000,000 people. One out of every five people in the world live in China.


It's getting to be abit crowded don't you think? Six point five billion people with more than twice the number of newborns over deaths per second and birth is escalating faster than death by 5 secs. Which means more people are coming than going. With improved healthcare, the average life expectancy will increase. But then again, people want to live forever but nobody wants to grow old. Think about it.
And if there are five in your family, how do you decide who goes to China?

Gentleness is Strength

"There is nothing as gentle as strength, and nothing as strong as gentleness".
-Frances de Sales


Perhaps in the quest for God and in finding justification for my gentle nature, I have arrived at some fundamental issues that are very real for me and further cements my belief in the greater good.Gentleness is Strength

by Robert Perry

We all love to be on the receiving end of gentleness. It feels wonderful to be treated gently. Yet, on the giving end, we wonder if being gentle can get the job done. We live in a world resistant to change, even change for its own good. If we are going to make a positive difference, surely at times we must act strongly, even harshly.

This reflects our underlying attitude that gentleness is weak, an attitude that is perfectly understandable. We probably all have had the experience of trying gently to get a certain result while no one listens, only to finally get that result when we start shouting.

A Course in Miracles, however, claims that gentleness is strength. In fact, it says that if we want to make a positive difference in the world we will "need the strength of gentleness" (Manual, p. 13). It says that if our tactics are harmful, we will actually be too weak to accomplish what we came here for. This is a total reversal of how we see things. How can it be?

True gentleness is more than just a matter of behavior. It flows from an inner gentleness, a gentle way of seeing. Do you look upon the world through gentle eyes? As people do their crazy dance, do you look on them with narrow, unforgiving eyes, or do you "look with gentle graciousness" (Text, p. 407)?

This kind of seeing gives rise to the gentleness that is truly strong. Real gentleness has the power to reach inside people and cause change. Perhaps we can remember a time in our own lives when one gentle touch reached us as nothing else could, when one gentle word was more effective than all the shouting. The power of gentleness is the power of love.

More than that, says A Course in Miracles, the power of gentleness is the power of God. According to the Course, God is perfect gentleness yet also infinite power. True gentleness, then, is more than mild behavior, more than mere timidity. It is a state of mind that mirrors the nature of God, and so taps into His infinite power. This is why the truly gentle have been known to perform miracles.

And this is why they will one day inherit the earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that "the meek shall inherit the earth." The word "meek" here is the translation of a Greek word that actually means "gentle but strong," which is why many translations now say "the gentle" rather than "the meek." A Course in Miracles makes the exact same point. After speaking of the strength that comes from never attacking-from gentleness-it says, "This is what is meant by 'the meek shall inherit the earth.' They will literally take it over because of their strength" (Text, p. 20). Can you imagine a world ruled by the gentle? What a wonderful world it would be.

I believe it would be a world of infinite power because like God, our true nature, perfect gentleness is also infinite power. And if it's true that we all love to be at the receiving end of gentleness, we should be the change that we want to be. And yes, what a wonderful world it would be.....

Terry Fox Run 2006- More pictures

Well you know what they say;
Better late than never. Photos still say alot. See how much fun Summer is having? Not half as much as mummy!!! Isn't she lovely?

Summer's Birthday

On the night you were born, the moon looked like this.

Thursday, September 28, 1995


Moon's age (days): 4
Distance (Earth radii): 58.13
Percent Illumination 17.21%
Ecliptic latitude (degrees): 2.39
Ecliptic longitude (degrees): 233.37

Our darling girl turns 11 today. Although she felt a little under the weather due to a bout of food poisoning acquired during her b'day dinner at the Dome at KLCC, she put up a brave front for all present.Lots of friends and family members to surround you with love, lots of food and even two b'day cakes. I simply love the butter cake with sugar icing. Yummm

Your birth tree is Hazelnut Tree, the Extraordinary Charming, undemanding, very understanding, knows how to make an impression, active fighter for social cause, popular, moody and capricious lover, honest and tolerant partner, precise sense of judgement.

Do you think it describes her aptly?

Happy Birthday Summer

Terry Fox Run 2006

The Gans were there for the first time when we heard of it from friends. And we were glad we went to 'walk' the route with sooooo... many people who supported the Terry Fox cause. Summer wants to do it again. Zane was home alone.
Well supported, well organised, well funded and well done Terry.

The Run is named after Terry Fox, the young man who inspired these events.

Terry Fox was 18 years old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer. His right leg was amputated above the knee. Whilst in hospital, Terry was moved by the suffering of cancer patients, particularly children. So much so that he resolved to run across Canada (a distance of 8,500 kilometers) to raise money for cancer research. He called his journey the “Marathon of Hope”. Terry Fox, an amputee, ran a marathon (42 kilometers) a day for 143 consecutive days - a total distance of 5,373 kilometers. At that stage, Terry was forced to abandon his run as the cancer spread to his lungs. Terry Fox died at the tender age of 21. Before he died, he knew that a fund-raising event would be held each year, with the same objectives as the Marathon of Hope - to help find a cure for cancer.

Longer

"When artists create pictures and thinkers search for laws and formulate thoughts, it is in order to salvage something from the great dance of death, to make something that lasts longer than we do".
- Hermann Hesse

Life is a terminal condition. What are you doing to make it last longer?
Hermann Hesse(2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-born poet, novelist, and painter who became a Swiss citizen. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best known works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game (also known as Magister Ludi).

Gone Too Soon?

What can you say about a sixteen year old who loved the Beatles,the Boys Scouts movement, chicken rice, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, girls, Liverpool, life, U2, people and his mother,...who left us behind?
That he was Purposeful. Intuitive. A Realist. A Hopeless romantic? Or just gone too soon...







Like a comet
Blazing 'cross the evening sky
Gone too soon

Like a rainbow
Fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly
And splendidly bright
Here one day
Gone one night

Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

Like a castle
Built upon a sandy beach
Gone too soon

Like a perfect flower
That is just beyond your reach
Gone too soon

Born to amuse
To inspire to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon

-Michael Jackson

Jonathan Gan drew his last breath on earth Wednesday night at 10.40 pm. 9 August 2006 lying in my arms.

How many days have you lived?

Want to know;
What the moon looked like the night you were born?
What is your life path number?
What is your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar? Egyptian calendar?
The date you were conceived?

My age is 6.90567514677104 years old if I were a dog. Still can chase cats!
But then again you know that it's not how long you live but how well.


Click here to go there

Birthday Calendar 

#birthdaycalendar #birthday #calendar 

What does Blake Edwards, Stanley Kubrick and Mick Jagger have in common?

They all share the same birthday with Jonathan Gan who turned 16 today.

Read more

Have you heard of Long Tail marketing?

It's a relatively new, recently uncovered marketing model that was driving the greatest website on the planet- amazon.com and iTunes and the rest of the media and entertainment industry. The number of non hits can really outnumber the hits and blockbusters. People are wandering further down the beaten path and discovering that they actually are unique individuals with unique, individual taste that may not be 'POPular' choice or driven by HITS. So they buy what they like and the market presents itself into thousands of little niches that translate to hundreds of thousands in sales.
Read more here;

Long Tail

India Blackout Blogspot

In a surprise move, Indian authorities have blacked out blogs especially blogspot. ISPs are being instructed to control access to blogspot. It seems that some blogs are being used by terrorists to communicate. No shit. This is India. IT supremo.
Heck it's like saying shut down the phone lines, the terrorists talk to each other through phones.
Thanks Azhar Chougle for the heads up.

Faith

AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION (God, Faith and Science. Think about it) 

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy speaks to his class on the problem Science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal

him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God

didn't.

How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is

God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything.

Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

Student does not answer.

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these

terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

Student has no answer.

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe

the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God?

Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,

science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat,

mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.

Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the

absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as

darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of

something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,

flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have

nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness

isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker,

wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.

To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.

Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize

where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the

Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's

brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so.

So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable,

demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.

With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

Brand ZIZOU

If you, like me, watched the World Cup finals last Sunday and saw the head butt incident and like me, questioned the sanctity of Zidane throwing away his last match of an illustrious career spanning 18 years or worse you also heaped curses on the man calling him stupid, senile, mad or lost it. But after the dust has settled I ponder the events again and perhaps clarity set in.

Continue reading Brand Zizou

IF

Recently, long time friend and finance maestro Steven de Souza sent me this Kipling poem accompanied by his story which I felt magnified the beauty of the poem. It was timely and it comforted me . 

I reproduce it here verbatim.

I was given this poem before I went away to NZ. Can't remember who gave it to me but it probably gave me strength to get over the hours and days in a strange new environment.  I was 19, never ever travelled by plane. I had arrived late afternoon in Auckland with no one to meet me. I was quite prepared to sleep the night at the airport lounge as I had NZ 100 cash and knowing I could not affort to look for temp accomodation and a meal. This poem 'saved the day'. I know some of you will want to share this with a son or daughter or loved one who might be in need of morale boosting. Steve      

[IF] by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you But make allowance for their doubting too, 

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: 

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master, If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; 

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; 

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!" 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch, 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; 

If all men count with you, but none too much, 

If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, 

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son! --Rudyard Kipling

Hua Hin

Spent a year in Huahin one weekend. A quaint little royal seaside town where Thailand's first golf course was opened by King Rama VII back in 19th Century. The place we stayed in was nice, very lux.Yeah so lux that it even comes with a jacuzzi on the balcony. The SpringField Village Golf and Spa Resort. It has a 27- hole Jack Nicklaus designed course. Making this the third Nicklaus course I've played so far.
Vince and I were on assignment for Nike Golf's Spring 07 Trade launch. Vince covered the media briefings, events while I covered media plus dealers events which included golf, dinner, drinks, meetings, etc.
Highlight of my trip must most certainly be the 12-seater single engine Cessna flight that flew us from Bangkok to Hua Hin 45 mins away. Apart from the spectacular views of the meandering Chao Phraya and the mosaic-like salt flats at the estuary, the flight sensation itself was very close to flying our own plane. We felt all the bobbling and dipping and air pockets to the max! Ahhhh... that flying sensation was felt right to the metal twisting, crude rattling of the tyres on the runway at landing. Wheee.......

American Idol

Didn't care much for the soapy AI but watched it with the family all the same. But what was a true American ICON to me, this remarkable Jewish American pianist and composer born May 28, 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri. They aptly paid tribute to him (by having him play his compositions on stage) and his songs. One by one the medley of hits swept over me like a balm to my soul. Burt Bacharach, he and lyricists Hal David teamed up to write several hits of the 70's & 80's.
From (to name a few);
"What's New Pussycat?" (Tom Jones, 1965, from the movie of the same name), Make it Easy on Yourself, "(They Long To Be) Close To You" "Anyone Who Had a Heart" "Walk On By" "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" "The Look of Love" "What the World Needs Now Is Love" and my favourite optimist song- "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" (B.J. Thomas, US no. 1, 1969, from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
This song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1969.Bacharach also won the Academy Award and Grammy for Original Score for the movie. Grammy nominee Song of the Year. Yup 1969. Woodstock and Vietnam War.

Sigh....... they don't write songs like these anymore.
Thanks for the memories Burt, you are one true American Idol.

Did I say "snug as a bug....?

Yup. Starting with Eleanor she's snug as a bug in a rug........as are all of us actually. And actually not missing all that space we gave up at all. Except maybe Eleanor. But then....nothing beats liveable space!

Live -rpool

Liverpool took the FA cup on Saturday after a hard fought 4-3 victory over West Ham United in penalties. The score was tied at 3-3 after extra time and silver goals.Thus, the game went into penalties to decide the winner.

it was a great game filled with goals and controversies and one man,man -of-the match Steven Gerrard showed what a great player he was by scoring two priceless goals when Liverpool were down.


Guest blogger Jon

Mother's Day

Mother's Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mother's Day was originally conceived by social activist Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War with a call to unite women against war. She wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation. The day now simply celebrates motherhood and thanking mothers. Mothers often receive gifts on this day.(?)
Back home, in our old 'new' home, we had a very sumptuous mother's day eve pot-luck dinner with all mothers of the immediate family accounted for.
Happy Mother's Day to Jamie's, Daniel's, Euvern's and Chyenne's mother, Justin's and Sean's mother, Theresa's,Maria's, Rose's, Agnes', Mike's, Julie's, Bernie's, Joey's, Jeffrey's mother, Jon's, Zane's, Summer's mother,and last but not least Owen's mother. Let's unite against war shall we?.