I Spy…

See this cinnamon bun?  Saw the likeness of Mother Teresa? 

Our late pope, too, makes an unconventional appearance – a fiery one, no less…

Read about these and other pictures at The Telegraph.

 

Greetings!

It’s that time of the year again where millions of people around the world send Chinese New Year greetings to friends and family.

How times have changed  – we used to do this by sending out cards.  I remember, many years ago, buying stacks of cards, postage stamps and diligently posting them, year, after year.

Then came the age of the internet and e-mail, and oh, how convenient it was, and is still, to use this mode to send greetings to people!  And it saved us lots of money too!  And I’m sure it saved lots of trees, and the postmen probably had their jobs easier as well.

Now with Facebook, we don’t need to do the e-mail thing – we go write on walls or easier still, set our status to show a greeting.   That’s what I’m going to do – wish everyone I know on Facebook a Happy Year of the Ox, by setting my status to a greeting.

No need to have to mess around with a whole list of contacts on e-mail, no need for licking of stamps, forget greeting card websites that have corny cards with corny messages, no troublesome sending of SMSes as well!

Sending a greeting has never been easier!

Hmm… what’s next after Facebook?

Happy New Year everyone!

Let’s take the Year of the Ox by its horns and have no fear!

 

The world’s your toilet

Watch this ad on water conservation:

 

Looks like we could be heading back to how toileting was done in the Stone Age?

 

What’s with WordPress?!

I haven’t been able to blog lately as the only free time that I had for writing was after midnight (Singapore time).

And at this time, anything that I click on WordPress took ages to load!

If I did manage to sign-in, I wasn’t able to write any new entries, look at my blog stats and what-have-yous.  Every page that I wanted to go to, took ages to load.  So much so that I have given up night after night.

This has happened before, but it got better, then it came back.

I’m squeezing some time now, before I have to start preparing dinner, to write as much as I can.

Maybe I should just switch to Blogger or something!

 

Bill Gates connects with the people

So what has Bill Gates been up to?

Love this Microsoft ad he did with Jerry Seinfeld!

Hey, my house is open for both of you to come connect?

 

Cool, Quirky, stuff!

Once in a while when I get bored, I’ll seek out some quirky stuff that are being sold online.  Take a look at what I’ve found.

Michael Phelps T-shirt:

Terrorist Teapot:

Stress Paul Stress Reliever – imagine squeezing your boss:

Fetch My Keys Dog Key Finder – whistle and dog barks back – perfect for those of you who keep forgetting where you chucked your keys!

Wooden clock – now you see, kayu is not just a stupid wooden block, it’s cool!

And lastly:

Sun Jar – this is my favourite.  This jar stores energy from sunlight in the day and lights up at night.  Perfect for sunny Singapore. 

‘…inside the jar are a highly efficient solar cell, rechargeable battery and low energy LED lamps. When the jar is placed in sunlight the solar cell creates an electrical current that charges the battery over a few hours. This energy is then used at night to power the three LED lamps inside the jar.”

Read more about it here.

I did not provide links for the other items, as not only am I feeling bored, I’m feeling lazy as well.  However, I can tell you that all of them are available here, except for the Michael Phelps T-shirt (go Google it yourself, you lazy bum!).

 

Blue Screen of Death strikes at the Beijing Olympics!

The much dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) struck, as Li Ning was making the much talked-about run to light the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony.

Read more about it at Gizmodo.  Amusing!

 

Greenpeace oooh la la (or the things trees get up to)!

This video from Greenpeace garnered both positive and negative reviews.  What do you think?  Too sexy sensual?  Too clever?  Watch!

This is about making a statement to the European Commission concerning the protection of forests from illegal logging.

I guess you will understand why the video was made in THAT direction, by clicking on the link EU doesn’t have anything against some loving here (***Warning – the video here contains human actors, not trees and plants!).

 

The Lion That Made Me Cry

Watch this video - although the footage is more than three decades old, it was released only recently on YouTube.  It made me cry and I believe you will cry too! 

Read the story here.

It’s an absolutely touching story right?  Thanks to Otterman, my heart feels really heavy now. 

The touching video is one thing.  The story of George Adamson (the bared-bodied man in the video) is another.  It also left me teary-eyed.

I had heard of Adamson a long time ago when I was in school, but had never really bothered to find out in detail what he did.  I wished I had, as at that time, Adamson would still be alive and the stories would have been more current (if you know what I mean).  I vaguely recall reading about his death when he was brutally murdered by poachers, but it didn’t affect me at all then.

But after reading so much today through the endless links on the internet, I feel really sad and pensive.

How can anyone ever measure up to him?  Why can lions, an animal of a species so different from us, trust Adamson, a human, so much, while many of us can’t even trust our own brothers (I’m not even going to mention fellow human beings)?

Sigh!  Such is life, huh?

But on a brighter note, the international Born Free Foundation continues to perpetuate Adamson’s legacy by  working throughout the world to stop individual wild animal suffering and protecting threatened species in the wild.

And now, I can’t get the theme from the award winning movie Born Free (about George and Joy Adamson and their lioness Elsa) out of my head (I remember hearing this when I was really little):

Born free, as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart…

I remember how the song and its music always made me feel as if I’m some place else – it made me feel a breeze, transporting me to the long green grasses of the African savannah and its huge open spaces.  It’s little wonder why John Barry has won awards after awards (can’t help digressing here – but he’s one of the greats).

I’ll see if I can order the DVDs for Born Free and other Adamson stories on Amazon, and watch them with my family.

Incidentally, the lion is Little Guy’s favourite animal and I hope he gets inspired by Adamson!

 

Beatrice’s Goat

This is not a new story but I only came across it yesterday while scanning The New York Times on the internet.  It’s a really heartwarming, true story, about how a poor girl from a village in Uganda made it to college in the US, all because of a gift of a goat from the charitable organization, Heifer International.

Read Beatrice’s story in The NY Times article here.  There is also a report from CBS 60 Minutes from a few years ago where you can watch a short video.

This story just shows that with charity, every little bit goes a long way.