star wars

It has been more than a week since the last installation of the saga runs in cinemas now.
I still haven�t seen the movie: Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of The Sith.
And it's gonna be soon, I hope, to have the chance to see it.

When the first installation of the 6-part saga was in the cinemas a long, long time ago, I was a little baby. It was in 1977 that the movie 'Star Wars - A New Hope' had its first screening. It was Episode IV. Then, it was followed by Episodes V and VI.

Anyway, I was never caught by the Star Wars fever back then during my childhood.
It was only when the Special Edition went out in 1997 to mark the 20th anniversary that it caught my attention (not a die-hard fan, though). This, is due to a few factors.
It was released as Special Edition Trilogy, with enhanced visual effects, digital surround sound, and timeless epic of good vs evil.
Also, I was in Manchester at that time, and starting to build my own home theater separates system.
I remember Imam (Akmal Hisham) and I had a Trilogy marathon at our place on Coleby Avenue - we borrowed Fab�s Trilogy VHS.

A few years later, Episode I released in the theaters. It was confusing to me at first because prequels are unheard of. George Lucas has my utmost respect because of his vision. He waited 2 decades for the technology to be available to carry out his story as he intended it to be. This was partly achieved during the special editions. It is then followed by the next three prequels. The idea itself is amazing.

What made me attracted to Star Wars is that it is timeless. Back in 1977 George made SW IV with spacey ideas that could match those in 2000 era. The millennium falcon is a classic.
Okay, the tie fighters are not so futuristic, but the rebel fighters' spacecrafts are good. Plus, the novel idea of having an R2 unit on board, instead of having all the computers on the spacecraft itself. This is quite like having a mobile computer (eg. PDA, notebook) hooked upon a vehicle system. Well, at least the idea was there.

People already knew who Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker actually are, towards the end of the saga. And by Episode II we know how they came about. It is just plain interesting how the characters evolve. This, perhaps is answered by Episode III. No wonder if many people say that III has too much to tell. Anyway, the most interesting of it all may be that it is the last installation of the whole saga. Being the third episode of six, it is interesting.

Nursery rhymes

All this while I've known that there are at least three nursery rhymes sharing the same tune.
The most popular of it is perhaps Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
The other two:
Baa Baa Black Sheep, and
The Alphabet Song (you know: 'aye, bee, see, dee, ee, eff, gee...')

When Marsya was in N2 kindergarten (nursery), one of the songs that she learnt was Little Monkeys.
It didn't occur to me at first, just that only recently I noticed that the tune is the same as the Alphabet Song. Marsya and Adam were jumping on my bed and I started to hum the Little Monkey song. That's when I realized that now there are four nursery rhymes with the same tune. Amazing.

Here's the wording for Little Monkeys (you can start with any number and repeat the song reducing one monkey each time until there is none...).

Little Monkeys
Three little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell down and broke his head
Momma called the doctor, the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell down and broke his head
Momma called the doctor, the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed

One little monkey jumping on the bed
One fell down and broke his head
Momma called the doctor, the doctor said
No more monkey jumping on the bed

bangunan tabung haji and johor museum

bangunan tabung haji johor bahru.
blue roof buildings on the right - johor museum. formerly sultan of johor's istana.
across the water is singapore.

one for the memories

puva of itd took this photo for us. it doesn't really show the fine interior of itd jb office, which is quite tranquil.
standing l-r: t. siva, ramesh, othman, charles ooi (instructor), muralee, kenneth (itd jb manager), me.
ladies: jeslyn & arnizah.

the majestic bangunan sultan ibrahim

perched atop bukit timbalan in johor bahru, bangunan sultan ibrahim is one of jb's landmark.
on the left cars lining up the jb-s'pore causeway. lush greens on bukit timbalan adds serenity around this place.
beyond, it's hectic jb city life.

the majestic bangunan sultan ibrahim

I attended ‘effective presentation skills’ course at ITD [www.itd.com.my] last week.

ITD JB branch is at the penthouse level of menara TJB in JB town, nearby wisma persekutuan.
other JB landmarks within walking distance are bangunan tabung haji and the classic bangunan sultan ibrahim on bukit timbalan.

as much as the course itself, I enjoyed very much the scenery of coastal line of johor bahru.
from the penthouse level, you could see the cars lining up the jb causeway, the johor museum, bangunan sultan ibrahim, bangunan tabung haji, the lush greens around the Indonesian embassy / masjid abu bakar / johor zoo / area.

[ more on bangunan sultan ibrahim here: http://www.tourismjohor.com/destination/view.cfm?ID=36397F7C-4CD4-44D9-B59085BB3EBC8364&Type=Heritage ]

interestingly, this is the first time I photographed the building, for the longest time I’ve been living in johor bahru.
perhaps because it is in johor bahru, it passed me by as ‘it’s within reach, no rush there – I could always snap them photos whenever I want’, as opposed to a traveling tourist who has only a few hours to enjoy the scenery and capture the photos while he’s there.
I took lots of photos in penang late last year and in makkah & madinah early this year. yes, perhaps because I don’t know when again I would have the chance to be there, so I triggered happy then to bring home the fond memories.

I really appreciate the buildings in johor bahru. a large part of the architecture in jb is influenced by the late sultan ibrahim of johor. the introduction of anglo-malay architecture is evident in johor bahru: masjid sultan abu bakar, bangunan sultan ibrahim, masjid pasir pelangi, to name a few.

start somwhere

it came to me recently, i realized that i have to start somewhere to have something with long run benefits.
a 'now' at any point of time is the best time to start, everytime.
i don't have to have a complete and awesome something to start with.
just a basic structure with room for improvement will do, to get the ball rolling.
then i will have the opportunity to improve it, tweak and fine tune; keeping in mind the goal of the whole exercise.
over time, in the long run, there will be no end to it; only constant improvisation of a solid structure. bit by bit.
O Allah, to You I seek strength and will.