Ben 10 in Malay

Ben 10 was just starting on Cartoon Network over Astro that Raya morning. I was entertaining local kids coming over our house in Plentong. Without hesitation one of them said:

“Eh, tukar Bahasa Melayu lah”.

I did not know that it’s served bilingually. It did not matter to my children, and so we were not bothered with the technology. Five minutes later I heard Ben uttering Malay words.

Splendid. We learn something new every day.

Image copyright Turner Media Innovations

Sunscreen song

Heard this song this morning on the radio. Been more than 10 years since I last hear it. Some are good advice, the rest, up to you to judge.

It’s actually a newspaper article eventually turned into a song.

Original article (now lyrics) by Mary Schmich of Chicago Tribune.

The quite interesting history of the ‘song’ is here:

• http://www.bondon.com/sunscreen_song.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wear_Sunscreen

=====================

Lyrics:

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Aussie T-Shirt

My friend Noraidalin went Down Under and bought me a t-shirt.
Okay, I asked for the t-shirt. For free.
:)

And sure enough, she gave me a piece. Quite nice. Very comfortable. Unlike the usual thin, low quality type. I like the color too.

The thing that makes it special is what printed on the t-shirt.

I'm a bit of a collector, and so it's nice to have a collection of Australian slangs in one piece of cloth.

Here's the list:

• wally
• gone walkabout
• chock a wobly
• stone the crows
• no worries
• bloody oath
• stunned mullet
• crikey!
• hows that!
• sheilla
• you beauty
• bonza!!
• down under
• fair crack of the whip
• turn it up
• mug lair
• too right
• amberfluid
• footy
• flatout like a lizard drinkin
• strewth!!
• onya
• yobbo
• she'll be right
• g'day mate!
• fair dinkum
• spot on
• tinnie
• flamin heck

I've heard a few, like the familiar "Down Under", "G'Day Mate!","spot on", "no worries" and "fair dinkum".
Totally no idea what the rest means.
Go and figure them out:
http://www.aussieslang.org/
google 'aussie slang' or 'strine' and you'll get quite a handful of hits.

Thanks for the t-shirt, Lin!
Where'll you be going after this?
;)

*updated 21 Feb 2014. thanks to Robbie and Michelle for informing me the correct link above :)

Afraid To Write

I sent an email to my loved one, just the other day
It’s sad communication has evolved this way.
We use so many words but have so little to relay
as angels scribble down every letter that we say.
All the viral attachments sent and passionate insults we vent
It’s easy to be arrogant behind user passwords we invent.
But on the day the scrolls are laid, with every word and deed displayed,
when we read our accounts, I know, for one, I’ll be afraid.

That day I’ll be so afraid to read,
every harsh word that I’ve spoken - and every time I have lied.
I’ll be obliged to admit,
I’ll be obliged to submit
Will I have strength owning up to each deed I’ve tried to hide?
Oh Allah, I’m so afraid to read.

An excerpt from Dawud Wharnsby Ali's song Afraid To Read.

If ever I wrote in here or any other digital media, please forgive me if I offended you in any way.

Lyrics above copyright owner DWA.
Cut and paste from here.

spelling contest - the day

We went to Danga City Mall to support Marsya for her spelling contest.
Apparently, finalists for the 3 categories (60 of them total) were selected from over 900 participants. Wow! Isn't that something?

For the finals, the contest format was changed. I guess to facilitate the venue and manner of judging the contestants. Finalists were given a spiral bound drawing board each, together with a black marker. They are seated on the stage, all of them, one category for a session. The word to be spelled will be announced in this manner: word, meaning, word, word. After that, 25 seconds given for the finalists to write (spell) the word on the drawing board. Then the bell will be rung. Finalists would raise their drawing board for the judges to give marks. Thus, it's not only testing their spelling ability, but other skills as well: listening and writing - neatly, legibly and big, while being quick at that. I personally do not agree wholly with the format, albeit it's the organiser's exclusive right to have it any way they deem fit.


worried mommy, among the audience

The first word was 'ambulance'. Poor Marsya managed only to write 'ambulan', and was a bit disturbed when the bell was rung as she was about to write 'c' on the paper. I'm sure she doesn't have any problem spelling the word. It was just that she didn't have enough time to write the word in big letters, neatly and fast. Not a norm for any kid her age in day-to-day schooling. Anyway, she marched on and kept giving her best.



Out of 15 words, she got 10 spelled out right (there were words not completed because not enough time). Not bad, although she didn't win anything. What I'm happy about is that she participated and didn't show any sign of stage fright, anxiety or nervousness. I guess none of the finalists were. It seems that they were at ease.

Kudos to Marsya. Also to the organiser for the event. They all did very well.

one minute writing

http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/

Stumbled upon this blog page this morning.

Especially if you're a Toastmaster, and looking for topics for Table Topics Session, this is a great site for resource. It helps to start the idea rolling.

Otherwise, still a good way of pushing you to write.
In the movie 'Finding Forrester' (Sean Connery, Rob Brown), there's a scene whereby William Forrester (Connery) asked Jamal Wallace (Brown) to type away with the typewriter - without thinking, or drafting. Just go on and write. Don't wait. Write about whatever on your mind.
Well, Beth included on her blog page a 1 minute timer, and a word (writing prompt) as the topic for you to write about.

One more thing:
While you're at her oneminutewriter page, scroll down to 'The One Minute Writer can help..' section on the left panel. I'm happy to report that Beth credited me for the idea above.
:)
Hehe...
Thanks, Beth!

:-) internet smileys: the origin

a piece of information technology history

Yad my office mate asked a casual question this morning (while eating a hari raya cookie with a heart-shaped sugar bit) :

who invented the heart shape as the symbol of love?
and who invented the smiley icon?

i began my research on the internet there and then.
while the original research intent was to find the origin of the round yellow smiley icon, it eventually brought my attention to the internet smiley.
i guess it is because of the creativity of the creator. more importantly there was a real need for it that necessitates the invention.
as the saying goes:

necessity is the mother of invention

The need: an icon (or marker) to denote whether a message in bulletin board (precursor of newsgroups) is meant as a joke.
The inventor: Scott E. Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University.
The moment: 19th September 1982.

Read the full story of the creation narrated by Scott himself.

link to Microsoft page on the origin of internet smiley.

:-)

phone number converter

have you heard of DAPAT?

they have a cool phone number converter program in their website.

the first converter is the 'phone number lookup'.
here you enter a phone number with alphabets to get the equivalent real phone number.
a good tool to use to decide what phone number to use when you're thinking of getting a new mobile phone number (or any number).

say, for 012 akmalhh = 012 256 2544
not a memorable number, but easy to remember if i just give people the alphabetic equivalent.

the second converter is the 'numeric to alpha' converter.
you key in your handphone number, and hit 'convert'. all possible variation of alphabet equivalents will be returned.

this is what i got from 012 3456789:
01 adil n sux
wakakakakaaa...

i'm posting this only for fun.
but hey, your number might be uninteresting at all (like mine) and not easy for people to remember.
you can generate the alphabetic equivalents and give it to people for them to remember by easily.
as it turned out, my real handphone number is uninteresting - both in numerical form and its alphabetic equivalent.

the converter can convert any number, but bear in mind that the longer the number, the longer the time it will take to run the conversion.

aku dok kat KL

"kau dok mana sekarang?"

banyak kali bila aku tanya kawan2 aku yang asal dari luar KL (tapi la ni dok kerja kat KL) soalan ni, jawapan diorang simple je:
"aku dok kat KL"

pastu aku tanya, "area mana tu kat KL?"
depa jawab:
"Puchong"
"Sepang"
"Serdang"
"Bangi"
"Sungai Buloh"
"Kajang"
"Petaling Jaya"
"Shah Alam"
"Rawang"
"Putrajaya"
dan banyak lagi nama-nama tempat yang aku rasa masih dalam jajahan Selangor.

duhh!! naseb baik tak sebut "Seremban" ataupun "Nilai".

masa aku kecik-kecik dulu dok kat Jalan Ipoh (area Sentul, masih dalam KL), kalu sebut Kajang/Puchong/Sungai Buloh/Sepang/Serdang/dsb, dah sah le Selangor tu.
dan memang agak jauh nak pegi tempat-tempat tu.

tapi aku saspek orang la ni pukui habih dok kata yang depa dudok kat KL pasai dah ada kemudahan pengangkutan - dari segi infrastruktur lebuhraya (dan pondok kutip duit tol).
aku pun tak berapa nak hafal segala jenis highway yang ada dalam KL tu.
dan mungkin jugak depa lebih mudah nak sebut 'KL' (dua sukukata) berbanding dengan 'Selangor' (tiga sukukata). ni masuk kes perekonomian perbualan la ni.
atau mungkin jugak nak glamer dok kat KL. tak tau le. tapi aku rasa dok kat tempat lain pun glamer apa... digi ngan celcom boleh aje dapat line kat mana-mana...

walaubagaimanapun, itu aje lah aku nak cakap.
dan aku nak tegaskan kat sini bahawa:
kalau korang dok kat dalam Selangor, cakap aje la korang dok kat Selangor.
KL tu KL la. tengok peta KL. belajar balik chokapi.

melainkan korang dok kat Kuala Langat.
waaakakakaaaaa...

the last straw

arabic idiom:

the straw that broke the camel's back

aka
the last straw / the final straw

also,
the drop of water that makes the glass/jar/bucket/barrel overflow

note: straw = long yellow grass

see also:
http://www.goenglish.com/TheStrawThatBrokeTheCamelsBack.asp