Sky Errata

I'd had that quotation* on my banner ("No sky is heavy if the heart is light. -- Winston Churchill") for almost as long as I've had this blog -- but only today it occurred to me to check the authenticity. Alas, the suspicion turned out right: it was mistaken. =X

From the time I first fell in love with that line until the last time I fiddled with its placement on my blog (a few days ago), I've continued being a collector of quotations, and have gradually learned (and thus suspected) that quotations are often paraphrased or wrongly attributed. In this case, it's both. The line originated not from Winston Churchill but from Rev. Charles Churchill, in a verse of his poem "The Prophecy of Famine: A Scots Pastoral":

Nothing but mirth can conquer fortune's spite;
No sky is heavy, if the heart be light:
Patience is sorrow's salve; what can't be cur'd,
So Donald right areeds, must be endur'd.

(Some doubts remain whether or not the comma should be there, as a Google Books result disagrees with the above punctuation. But given the "be", the line looks to me more natural with the comma.)

So now I've fixed the mistake, and posted this in hope that the next person needing to authenticate the quotation can have a more definite starting point than simply the comparative numbers of Google search results. =P


* Also, taking this opportunity, I've finally gone and cleared up** my occasional doubt about the usage of "quote" and "quotation", in both senses of "someone else's words" and "pricing estimate". The widespread use of "quote" as a noun has left me uncertain whether "quote" (n) means one and "quotation" (n) means the other. Well, (in case you want to know) I conclude that there is no such difference: for both meanings "quotation" is the correct noun, and "quote" is the informal noun (while the correct verb, of course).

** Also also, I went to check whether "cleared my doubt" was correct before finally putting down "cleared up my doubt". Obviously I'm now paranoid.

One Third

Only got a hundred years to live

And so much still to be done,
more still that can be done,

that I wonder if the next-life-I
will still be working on what I'm working on now,
adding, improving, (if ever) completing...

But it takes so long to grow up,
    to learn, to understand;
it takes so much to reach this place;

that perhaps the present-life-I

    having grown into the right circumstances,
                                            (I think)
    having met the right teachers,
                                            (I believe)

had better not count on that other hundred,

    not even on the rest of this hundred,

only now--

to do, do, do
as much as can be done.

This day has passed, and your life too has lessened.
Like a fish running short of water, for what do you rejoice?
Strive on diligently now, as if putting out a fire on your head.
May you be mindful of the transience, and be cautious not to be slack.
-- Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

Every Step Is Home

Just returned from CNY vacation in my hometown. Realized that nowadays I often have to rethink the context before using the term "hometown" -- should I say "birth town" instead? While I was here I'd say "go back to Indonesia" but while I was there I'd say "go back to Singapore". =X

Recalled that at my citizenship ceremony, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan said something along the line of belonging to the nation without denying our ancestry or forgetting where we came from, all of which shaped who we are. That point of view really impressed me at that time and had dispersed the conflicted feeling I used to have about my nationality.

A recent article that addresses the topic of the Singaporean identity in connection to the White Paper on Population also resonates with the above point of view:
6.9 million people and an emotional hump

Not sure whether that link will be permanent, so I hope it won't violate any copyright to quote the relevant parts here:

Singaporean is by definition a nationality, not an ethnicity nor a race.

It makes some sense for the Japanese to fear immigration as they want to preserve their ethnic homogeneity. Recently, when Hong Kong’s leaders made similar remarks that Hong Kong’s ethnic homogeneity of Cantonese people will be threatened by more Mainland Chinese immigration, it made sense too, even if one argues they are all ethnic Chinese.

But Singaporean? What is that?

It is neither race nor ethnicity, neither a language group nor even a religious community. Singapore is Singapore precisely because of its diversity, not because of homogeneity.

We seem to have forgotten the Singapore Story. It is a story of an island of immigrants forged from many races, many religions, many cultures. It is a story of a nation that welcomed different people who wanted to make a better life to find a new home. It is a story of a country whose descendants of these original people still celebrate various festivals, where Mosque meets Temple, where Christians live alongside Hindus, and even if most of us speak English or Singlish, we still preserve our ‘native’ tongues.

[...]

In the end, like others, I feel nobody defined it more eloquently than one of our founding fathers and the author of the Singapore Pledge, S. Rajaratnam.

He said, "Being a Singaporean is not a matter of ancestry. It is conviction and choice."

A Trail of Trailers

So there's been much raving about the awesomeness of the Iron Man 3 trailer and I agree; some called it "emotionally scarring" and I agree with that, too ("PEPPER!! NO!!!") --> making an exception with the caps and multiple exclamation marks, just for you, Marvel. Please make everything all right again come April 2013.

I've been thinking that the Skyfall poster I've been seeing at bus stops is also very cool. So are the TV spots. I admit that back when Daniel Craig first assumed the role, I'd shared the opinion of those who thought him rather too short, but looking at the list of all Bond actors to date, he is sorta the coolest-looking in my opinion, heh. That said, I've never had the interest to watch a Bond movie -- the female-objectification image from the old-time Bond movies kind of ruined this series for me -- and I'm not going to start now. Out of interest, though, anyone can tell me how the Craig-verse is on the subject of women?

Since I've decided that this post will be about trailers (and URL dumps), here's a link to a Honest Trailers clip for The Avengers (spoiler warning!) that I've recently enjoyed, by DIsk's recommendation. (When I said I liked deep voices, I didn't mean it quite like that one, but it's awesome anyway. And in case that put you in the mood for more lols as it did me, have some crack!vid.)

And, why not, a quote involving trailers that actually has nothing to do with a trailer:

%
<Meuuh> pleasehelp : are you trying with a dolby trailer ?
<pleasehelp> no... using windows

  -- #videolan

Um, yeah, that's an IRC channel quote taken from VLC's fortunes.txt. I confess to downloading VLC source code just to get updates on the amusing fortunes, even though I'm no longer using it for work. =P Besides, I'd definitely want to know if and when they reach "Vetinari" with the releases.

Huh. That made me Google Jeremy Irons' Vetinari, who's a pretty good fit with Kidby's, i.e., the canon (at least until I find Kirby's, if he ever drew him). But I should stop now before this leads to a Discworld trailer, as I'm really most content just worshipping the purely textual manifestation of m'lord. (For that, I do have The Discworld inspirational p...rintout on my office cubicle wall, in hope to net a fellow fan to squee together, but alas, it's yielded nothing so far. The colleague with the Angry Birds plushie sure has it easy! Maybe I should get me an A'Tuin plushie.)

Gold in Them Hills

Give the world a chance to say
A word or two, my friend
There's no telling how the day might end
We'll never know until we see
That there's gold in them hills
There's gold in them hills
So don't lose heart
Give the day a chance to start

-- Ron Sexsmith, "Gold in Them Hills"


Discovered via Katie Melua, who covered it in her latest album, "Secret Symphony". Fabulous choice for the opening track of the album: in Dorothy Boyd's words, it "had me at hello".

Soothing melody, soothing voice, soothing words -- I have quite a lot on my mind these days so these hit right home. Do listen for yourself in this gorgeous live version.





Side interest: The phrase "There's gold in them thar hills" is supposedly a cliche -- though one I didn't know before and had to Google -- related to the historical gold rush. But in this song I'm guessing Sexsmith uses it as an allusion to hope, in a "silver lining" way rather than a "California Dream" way.

Vista Wireless Connection Problem and Solution

Sharing this, as I've long been bugged by this problem and so glad to have stumbled on a setting that fixed it (internet searches had not been fruitful). Thought there might be someone out there who could use this.


Problem: Computer does not automatically get connected to a wireless network. "Connect to a network" dialogue is not responding. Applicable to computers that have seen some mileage.

Platform: Windows Vista (I didn't check if it's applicable to others)

Cause: The system keeps an ordered list of wireless networks to attempt connecting to. Any wireless network that has previously been detected and tried is automatically saved to this list. When the list is overpopulated (mine reached 100+ after 3 years of usage at various locations), with obsolete networks at the top, the system gets stuck in an endless string of failed connection attempts.

Solution: Open Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Manage Wireless Networks. Clean up the list, and put your preferred wireless network on top. That is all.

ただ

好きって、こんな感じだな。
ただ君の顔を見る。
ただ君が笑って聞く。
ただ君の存在を知っている。

Eloquence Cometh in Many Forms

Just a few things that got me contemplating recently.


Megamind (2010) revisited

TITAN: "This town isn't big enough for two supervillains!"
MEGAMIND: "Oh, you're a villain all right, just not a super one."
TITAN: "Yeah? What's the difference?"
MEGAMIND: [makes a grand entrance] "Presentation!"

So, my dad and I were choosing something to pass the afternoon among my movie collection.
DAD: "What are these about?"
ME: [look over the list of Batman and Marvel movies] "Oh, mostly movies made from comic books."
[after we decided on Megamind]
DAD: "Is this from a comic, then?"
ME: "Eh, no, it's an original movie, but I'm guessing a comic has been made out of it."

DIsk and I have had a few discussions regarding story adaptations from and to books / comics / manga / anime / movies / etc., and the level of purism involved. We generally agree that each medium excels in a different aspect and should be exploited accordingly (presentation!), and that while introducing plot changes could sometimes ruin the adaptation, staying strictly true to the original material at the expense of readability / watchability may not be a good thing either. Well, I myself might still be a purist about certain works, in which case I just stick to the original form, no trouble. =P


Carl Sagan, "Cosmos" (the book)

[Dedication page]

"For Ann Druyan:

In the vastness of space and the immensity of time,
it is my joy to share
a planet and an epoch with Annie."

Ann Druyan is Sagan's co-author and wife. He'd always had a poetic disposition, I gather, but when you're Carl Sagan, you get to be romantic with astronomical* facts to back you up.

* Double meaning is not really intended but probably works just fine.


Neil Gaiman, "Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions"

[Introduction -- note on "Chivalry"]

"I wrote it in a weekend, a gift from the gods, easy and sweet as anything. Suddenly I was a writer transformed: I laughed in the face of danger and spat on the shoes of writer's block. Then I sat and stared glumly at a blank screen for another week, because the gods have a sense of humour."

Gaiman's stories are a hit-and-miss with me, but his side-notes tend to capture me with his penchant for describing his plot-bunny conception and writing struggles that we all can empathize with ("...staring at a blank screen, occasionally writing a word... Then I'd exit without saving"). Which means he is one of those authors whose book introductions are worth going through; in fact he did hide a story --which happens to fall under my 'hit' category-- inside the introduction of this book.