Sunday, May 17, 2009
I had my first and only Discman when I was in secondary school. It was with me up till when I was in the Army. I don't remember if I ever gotten a Walkman but I do remember using tapes on my player at home. On the same note, I think I got my first set of mini-compo CD-Tape-Radio player (the term for this equipment is wrong. I just made it up) when I was in secondary school too. MD was a growing market then.
Later, I got my first (and current) mp3 player when I was in the Army. I think my sister got it for me while I bought my first (and current) camera with my pay around the same time. My beloved Iriver H10 (and my Sony camera) has been with me for at least 4 years. I must say that although it is not the best mp3 player around (it has a lousy interface) and given that it is a Korean brand (you know what they say about Korean brands), it has been reliable in providing me with music whenever I want and also has been a great in transmitting music as they are, to me. The latter is mainly because of the sound quality it provides by itself. This only dawned on me after 4 years of using and after changing at least 5 earphones before ending up with my latest and most expensive Sennheiser HD 212 Pro (this is a pair of headphones)
I remember I first started off as most people did, with the accompanying earphones in the iriver package. While in the Army, I was surfing the forums and came across a thread on earphones. The thing that I got from it was this or at least the gist of it is this, "Once you get a pair of earphones of better quality, you can never go back to one of lower quality." I learnt its meaning (surprisingly) more than 6 months after I bought my first pair of earphones from Sony. I remember it vaguely to be a day when my mum wanted to use my old discman. I was being nice and lent my Sony earphones to her. I ended up with my accompanying pair of earphones. It was then that I knew the meaning of the quote. The sound quality couldn't be any worse.
From there, I spoilt and lost some earphones. Basically, I spoilt my first pair of Sony earphones, lost the next pair that I bought, received a new pair from AT and LR (I must say the wiring for this pair is great but it was a lil too short), bought another pair cuz I needed longer wire, spoilt the one with longer wires and then bought a pair of Philips clip-on earphones (all those before are from Sony). I was gratly disappointed with the one from Philips ear clips headphones that I got. Only the sound quality was commendable. The other things like durability and stuff all sucks. However, that experience had taught me the difference between headphones and earphones. It was only a few months ago that I decided to purchase of Sennheiser headphones. It was and it still is a time that I wish to be within the comforts that my music can provide me. It is psychological and I still haven't got a good explanation for this behavior. By the way, before I proceed, I must mention that I never did lost or spoilt the pair of earphones that AT and LR gave me BUT I lent it to my friend over here after I got my headphones and he lost it in Valencia, Spain. I am sorry if you guys are reading this!
Back to my beloved headphones, to put it simply, it allows me to listen to songs almost as if I have never heard them before. Sounds that I have never encountered with my earphones are now clear. Well.. I must say also that as it is not a noise cancelling headphones and that it is probably one of the lower grade Sennheiser around, the music experience can be better but I am satisfied with this, at least for a few years to come. If you have had the time to read up to here, you are probably bored at home or something. It is a crappy blog entry which I simply wanted to say how much I like this pair of headphones I have. :) Here's a lil something to listen to if u don't already have sth else to do..
The Origin. 5/17/2009 05:06:00 pm
Sunday, May 10, 2009
It is 0945 now. I am sitting in a park in Compiegne, enjoying the sun and the artificial nature around me. I think it is pretty clear why this piece of land I am on is an enclosure of nature that has been destroyed and after which artificially created. Even by calling it nature, I am over-stating its worth. In any case, this park is probably one of the prettiest in Compiegne. It is the park behind the Palace that Napoleon III stayed in. It is also the cycling/hiking gateway to the forest of Compiegne, which has many beautiful sights like Chateau de Pierrefonds and more. As I was walking here, I saw a group of old hikers (who probably joined some France hiking tour group) preparing to begin their hike. I also came across a group of old folks leaving the park. It was pretty funny in the sense that I said “bonjour” to the first few of them and one of them said “good morning” in reply. I later said “good morning” to the last one and he said “bonjour”.
Anyway, time to start on the main topic. In my moments of desperation when I was younger, I had laid in bed and prayed to god (any god) for help. Well.. Those moments of desperation were pretty mediocre or should I say insignificant. For example, like the little prayers of getting well-enough results. In any case, I knew that those were moments of desperation that I prayed. I guess I never really did believe in any god so to speak. To some extent, I think I never can but that is probably too early to tell.
About 3 Saturdays ago, I entered a church. Well. I have entered many churches while touring but in this church, I tried speaking to god. I was in Beauvais for my flight to Madrid and I was there way way earlier as the bus service was only available in the morning. Because I had no where else to go and because I was a little at a lost on that day, I entered the Cathedral and tried speaking to god or at least that was how I thought one can speak to god. I asked for directions in life, I talked about my disbelief in religions and I talked about how I think that there may be a god but I can only believe when I see one. I did not find an answer for my question that day, which is expected. How can you get anything without giving something in return? I couldn’t give my faith. Then again, I probably have some faith to begin with, in order to have tried to speak to god. Haha.. I think a devote believer would probably laugh at this failed attempt to converse with god or maybe he/she may think that this guy here has not even done it, it was just what he thought he did.
On another note, I went into another church today to see what people do on a Sunday morning communion. A Mexican classmate of mine shared that one can best understand a culture by visiting their church and their market place. Of course, he meant when people are there. I won’t say that I understand exactly what he meant but I guess it was because the people take up different positions in these 2 places. They give their faith and their everything in churches while in market places, they work to safeguard themselves be it to earn a living or to get the cheapest deals or best one for their family. That is one aspect I think. Of course, in the churches, in front of god, they could be nice and everything but in market places they could be something else.
Lastly, maybe it is due to the fact that the theme of the manga that I was recently into was pretty bleak and maybe it is because of the stuff happening, I came to this state of mind that if whatever is going to occur is of a magnitude that you cannot deal with, the only thing to do now is to enjoy the moment for now and worry only when the something comes along. It is a very helpless thought, I know. However, it is such a common thought that saying it out like that made it sound stupid. An easy example is that I have checked the weather forecast for today and it is going to rain today. However, when I woke up the sky was beautiful and the sun was great. The conditions are still so now. In any case, in view of the bad weather later, I could choose to stay in to avoid getting caught in the rain if it came down. Alternatively, I could take the chance that the good weather now will last until I am sick of it and go home or that I will enjoy it until the rain come and I will find a way to make it back somehow. (haha.. I can’t believe I tried to say something even vaguely positive) In any case, lucky for me, I am now sick of the fine weather and am heading back home. (of course, if you think on the flip side, if it rained now, you would probably say that I am stupid for going out when I knew that it will rain)
The Origin. 5/10/2009 05:27:00 pm
i AM myself
Name: Kenneth aka Ah_Ken
DOB: 14 Jul 85
Current Status: Mugging my life away in NUS. Life is a BIG deception!
Residence: Bt Panjang
Likes: Chocolate, Soft Shell Crab (Cuz I'm LAZY), Shopping, Slacking, Reading Manga..
Dislikes: None I can think of at the moment..
Short Term Dream: Get my ass to France for SEP at least.
Long Term Dream: A nice condominium at Marina Bay or in Orchard cuz... very atas la!!
Description: Just ur average guy...
your voice
quotes
"You know how when you were a little kid and you believed in fairy tales, that fantasy of what your life would be, white dress, prince charming who would carry you away to a castle on a hill. You would lie in bed at night and close your eyes and you had complete and utter faith. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Prince Charming, they were so close you could taste them, but eventually you grow up, one day you open your eyes and the fairy tale disappears. Most people turn to the things and people they can trust. But the thing is its hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely cause almost everyone has that smallest bit of hope, of faith, that one day they will open their eyes and it will come true." - Dr. Meredith Grey from Grey's Anatomy
'How happy is the little Stone
That rambles in the Road alone,
And doesn't care about Careers
And Exigencies never fears-
Whose Coat of elemental Brown
A passing Universe put on,
And independent as the Sun
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute Decree
In casual simplicity-' - How happy is the little Stone by Emily Dickinson
'This is your last chance.
After this, there is no turning back.
You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.
You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.' - Morpheus, The Matrix
'The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Not because you'll get it, but because you're doomed not to want it if you do.' - Unknown
'There are plenty of people with good intentions who take the wrong actions in the end' - Gundam Seed Destiny
'Life is no straight and easy corridor along
which we must seek our way,
lost and confused, now and again
checked in a blind alley.
But always, if we have faith,
a door will open for us,
not perhaps one that we ourselves
would ever have thought of,
but one that will ultimately
prove good for us.' - A.J.Cronin
"Every life has one true-love snapshot
Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know
No life is a waste.
The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone"
"A man can endure alot if he still has hope." - Clyde T. Ellis
" 'Appreciate It.' 2 simple words. A life span of gratitude." - Cinderella Man
"A boxer enters the ring alone. If knocked down, he alone could pick himself up and keep the fight going." - Cinderella Man
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt
"Jame J. Braddock: I know this isn't what you wanted. But I can't win if you're not behind me.
Mae: I'm always behind you."
"People die in fairy tales all the time." - Max Baer, Cinderella Man
"Maybe sometimes people need to see someone do it so they can do it." - Father Rorick, Cinderella Man
"You always got ot figure you're not the best man in the world, there might be somebody better. That's the way it was. That's the way boxing is. The champion don't always stand up. There's always somebody coming up to take him. That's a part of life." - Jame J. Braddock
"If either man falls through weakness or otherwise, he must get up unassisted" - The Queensbury Rules, No. 4
"All men have fears, but the brave put down their fears and go forward, sometimes to death, but always to victory" - Motto of the King's Guard in Ancient Greece
"With each passing day in a good marriage, the love for your spouse grow stronger than the day before" - Cinderella Man
"I take responsibility" - President George W. Bush
"Sow a Thought, and you reap an Act; Sow an Act, and you reap a Habit; Sow a Habit, and you sow a Character; Sow a Character, and you reap a Destiny." - Samuel Smiles
"Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win By fearing to attempt - Shakespeare in Measure of Measure
"What does your heart tell you?" - Aragorn, LOTR
"To an outstretched hand we shall respond with an olive branch, but we shall fight fire with the harshest fire ever." - Israeli PM Ariel Sharon
"To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human. " - The Matrix
"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth, always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath." - Balian of Ibelin, Kingdom of Heaven
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." - Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird
"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are... it is our choices." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter
"Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, LOTR
"Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." - Lilo & Stitch
"Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it." - Malcolm Wallace, Braveheart
"Every man dies, not every man really lives." - William Wallace, Braveheart