Through Eyes From Afar: October 2009

Oct 31, 2009

October's End

I leave you with a video for All Hallows Eve:

Hello from Japan ^_^:

More here.

Oct 27, 2009

Young and Old

Young, old, seed and gnarled
Rains fall and grasses spring anew
Changing seasons dream

Disclaimer:
Picture 1 is the work of S.Zenith Lee
Picture 2 was a contest entry by Phantzamo in a Worth1000 contest.

Oct 25, 2009

Through Eyes of Malaysia

Malaysia, my birthplace and current place of residence, is a tropical hodgepodge of

skyscrapers,

jungle,

wooden huts on stilts,

old colonial towns,

and serene island beaches.

The Good

Malaysia is a food paradise - besides having a dazzling variety of foods from multiple origins around the world, you can get it cheap, too. You can get a local meal for ~RM4 (£0.70 or USD 1.2).

Friendly people of diverse cultures, most of whom are multilingual.

Ranked #9 country in Asia with the most beautiful women. Nothing similar in status for the men, however.

Malaysia is a remarkable safe and stable country in the Third World region of Southeast Asia (think coups, military juntas, riots, widespread corruption and strange rituals). The lack of natural disasters, however, means no volcanoes or earthquakes :(

The Bad

The politics. And of course, our dear government.

The censorship - Arrests of political bloggers such as RPK, the existence of the Malaysian Secret Police, and to a smaller extent the censorship of certain scenes and events deemed "inappropriate" by the self styled masters of Malaysian morals. However, censorship and Big Brother statism is indeed becoming the norm globally, ironically strong in the self-appointed Leader of the Free World; to say nothing of the totalitarian communist bastions of China and North Korea.

Malaysian roads -Rude drivers who disregard traffic rules, corrupt traffic police, road bullies and triple parking, need more be said?

Malaysia is haunted - gremlins (toyol), ghosts (hantu), disembodied heads dragging their entrails along (hantu penanggalan) and pretty vampires on lonely roads (pontianak) roam the country.

The images of Malaysian locations in this post consist of my photos of the KLCC Petronas Twin Towers, a waterfall at the Endau Rompin nature reserve, the Sepang Goldcoast hotel resort at Bagan Lalang, A' Famosa Fort at Malacca City and Tioman Island.

Oct 23, 2009

Schoolgirl Complex

The japanese schoolgirl is, undeniably, the primary sex symbol in Japan in modern times.

It took root during the Meiji period when the schoolgirl dress was a code for class distinction; as only girls from the upper classes were sent to high schools. Unsurprisingly, the media tracked the every move of these Meiji starlets a la paparazzi. They came to achieve something of a sex symbol status, rivaling the geisha.

The schoolgirl image may appeal to women because it allows them to project a more youthful, innocent, or virginal image. These same reasons can explain part of the look's appeal to males as well. It may also have a less sexual aspect of nostalgia, recalling memories of a simpler time in one's life.

Indeed, fetishes often start to develop at puberty, when for males schoolgirls often feature as objects of desire which were seemingly unattainable. Often the contrast of a fully-developed woman in a "childlike" role is appealing, in the same manner as other forms of sexual role-playing.

Sailor outfits, along with other styles of school uniform, play an undeniably large role in otaku culture and the Japanese sexual canon as evidenced by the large amount of anime, manga, and dōjinshi featuring characters in uniform, Sailor Moon being one of the most popular examples.

The photos in this article are all Yuki Aoyama's works of his project, school girl complex (スクールガールコンプレックス), which seeks different angle on the japanese schoolgirl.

Oct 21, 2009

Happy Birthday, Moo!

My pet, Moo, celebrates his 6th birthday today, exactly 6 years after he came to me.

Oct 19, 2009

Counter Tests

Data: Hits on Through Eyes From Afar

Test Period: 17/9/09 to 17/10/09

Easyhits Counter = 9200 hits

Statcounter = 9624 pageloads

Google Analytics = 8943 pageviews

Pre-conditions:
Easyhits Counter and Google Analytics counts my own visits, but Statcounter does not.

Observations:
The hits counted by Statcounter > Easyhits > Google Analytics. Given the pre-conditions, the opposite was expected, but this did not turn out so. Any theories?

Libra: Time to Tip the Scales?

As I settled down to savor the remnants of my weekend, I peered at my horoscope:

Sign: Libra
Element: Air
Guardian Angel: Hagiel, Angel of Peace

So far, I'm an airhead who wants world peace......I continued reading

Your Year Ahead:
We sometimes reach a point that, in hindsight, is seen as a real turning point. Whether or not you realise the importance of current events depends on how in tune you are with your intuition. Whatever the case, during this year, there's no avoiding a new outlook on life.

Ah, something all to familiar at the moment. I am going through a transitional phase in life at the moment: from a backpacking, sociable yet geeky student to a hermetic corporate slave.

Despite my earlier misgivings, I am now actually grateful for this period in my life as it forc-, I mean, allowed me to rethink my earlier priorities in life, and the results have surprised me somewhat.

Early summer brings a focus on money and work. Health needs to be addressed soon after.

Working to death and then falling sick after that? Oh dear.

More importantly, you undergo a significant change in spiritual attitudes - old ideas may be traded for newer beliefs, or the intensity of your present faith strengthens.

When I was a student, despite trying a diverse spectrum of activities, and following my heart most of the time; I remained stuck to one major social convention: the goal in life was to find a job in a big (and high paying) company and corporate monkey your way up. Hehehee.....nooooooo longer the case.

Let's take a look at something more immediate now:

Your Week Ahead:
This is your most assertive time of the year. You're in high energy mode, and demand the spotlight.

Must be from eating all that cake my relatives brought me today. Sugar, baby, sugar!

It's a great time to ask for favors or a promotion. Do it soon, and you may get much more than originally hoped for. Someone older, wiser or richer could now become a staunch supporter.

Lucky Day: Friday, Lucky Colour: Gold, Lucky Number: 8

If I read it right, divine mission for all Libras this week would be to:
Kiss my boss's ass on Friday, while wearing something gold with the number 8 printed on. And not forgetting to beg for that promotion.

Good luck! Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!

Oct 17, 2009

Dīvali

Happy Dīvali (Deepavali) to all Hindu readers!

Spiritual Significance of Dīvali:

Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman.

Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Dīvali is the celebration of this inner light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality.

With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (inner joy or peace).

Oct 14, 2009

A Step-By-Step Guide To Seppuku

How to commit seppuku (切腹), the japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.

The following items are needed:
i) A katana sword (刀) and a tantō dagger (短刀). Make sure they are sharp and in good condition.

ii) A death costume. This consists of a white hakama (袴) and a plain white haori (羽織).
*Hakama is traditional japanese trousers, whereas haori is a kimono vest.

Steps:
1.
Contract a kaishaku (介錯) - a second to assist the you in seppuku. This can be a colleague, someone close or a total stranger. Good skill with the sword is absolutely essential. Get him or her to read this as well.

2.
Bathe. After that, when dressing, put on your hakama, right leg first - a symbolic acknowledgment that you are already dead.

3.
Write a death poem (辞世の句, jisei no ku). It should be emotionally neutral, not hinting at death, but rather contain metaphorical references to the transience of life in nature. Tradition dictates that this should be in waka form, a 31 syllable poem in five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7. Here in an example from Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫), a writer who committed seppuku in 1970.

Chiru o itou
Yo ni mo hito ni mo
Sakigakete
Chiru koso hana to
Fuku sayoarashi

A small night storm blows,
Saying 'falling is the essence of a flower'
Preceding toe who hesitate

4.
With your kaishaku standing by behind you, open your haori vest.

5.
Take your tantō dagger and plunge it into your abdomen no more than 2 inches deep, making a left-to-right cut.

6.
As soon as this happens, the kaishaku would then decapitate the you from behind, using a swift, precise stroke, done such that a flap of the skin is left attaching the head to the body. This technique is also known daki kubi or kakae kubi.
NOTE: THE LAST PART OF THIS STEP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH SEPPUKU FROM AN EXECUTION

A visual aid:

Alternative
Another form of seppuku is the jūmonji giri (十文字切り)
Steps:
1. Do steps 2 to 5 as stated above. No kaishaku is needed.

2. After step 5, slice a vertical cut in your abdomen, perpendicular to the first cut, so that it forms a cross.

3. Wait for death.

Oct 11, 2009

The Forest

Antonia is a 12 year old girl. She often has daydreams, in which she wonders of in to a magical far away forest, were she hides from the problems of the real world. One day, however, her father takes drastic measures and she has to face a decision.

Is your inner peace an utopian state until you have finally escaped the grip of the society and its rules? Or is affirmation a faster way to your personal luck? And what are you supposed to do, if you have to answer this question at the age of 12?

In the Animated Short "The Forest", the protagonist has to cope with this question and her hostile environment and finds a simple but radical solution.

Conceived, written, directed and animated by
David Scharf
http://www.huesforalice.com

Sound and Music
Javi Otero & César Meler, 48 Billion Atoms

Speakers voice girl
Neath Champion-Weeks

Speakers voice TV Ads
Stephen Taylor

Characterdesign
André Ljosaj
http://www.smatik.de

Oct 5, 2009

Oliver Twist Around The Trees

Last Saturday cast me in a community project in Sepang, Malaysia where I took a troop of orphan boys on a short hike by the Sepang Besar river mangrove swamp.