some of us laugh, some of us cry, some of us smoke, some of us lie... but it's all, just a way that we cope with our life - starsailor : some of us

Monday, December 19, 2005

what is life?

i found this article inside my sister's pc. i think it's from somekind of dare to fail program, and i thought it's interesting to share it with you guys.

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Subject : WHAT IS LIFE ?
Date : 14 Jul 2003 07:54:03 -0000
There is a saying that the most important things in life are not THINGS! What does it mean? Do you mean to say that if I don't have all those 'things' I still have a life? That's precisely it! Life is not about things that we accumulate – it's about the experience which we undergo as we go about accumulating or not accumulating those things!

Yes life is about the experience, the feelings, the learning that we obtain while on the pursuit of getting the THINGS or person whom we want.

So what about those "THINGS" – the money, the properties, the cars, the degrees, the positions and the fame? Aren't they important? They are actually the symbols and measurement of what humans tend to define as success or failure.

If we were to look back into history, we will find that 'entertainers' were just like jesters in the king's court. 'Merchants' were considered lowly 'traders' of wares and things. Today, entrepreneurs are held in high esteem and actors/actresses have become icons! What would the symbol of success be in the future? Remember, in the 13th century, if you are not a monk, you were considered a failure.

It's nothing wrong to go after all these symbols, but if you fail to get them, learn from the experience. Nothing is ever lost. And by the way, 'happiness' is an experience. It is not a thing. Hence if during your darkest hour, you can still maintain a state of 'peace' & 'happiness' then, only then will you know the true meaning of life. So experience with joy & wonder each and every moment of your life, be it 'bad' or 'good'.

After all, nothing is 'good' or 'bad' only our thinking makes it so.

One of my readers recently wrote to me that she has lost everything – her properties, her job etc and she felt like committing suicide. If ever you are in her position, remember you still have the most precious thing in the world that can change everything – YOURSELF, the LIFE which you still have.

So to all who are struggling or sometimes seem lost, remember these immortal words, "Do not forget to smell the flowers along your way to get what you want".

May you really LIVE
Yours traveler in time
Billi

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by the way, i've just met wan, zairi, cem, lokman, yus, adan, nobeat and erin at larkin. i couldn't attend the gig at taman u, but thankfully i'm able to meet them just now.

so that's all, gud nite people!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

a long distance call

i've just called syikin. when i'm at home, it means that our daily conversation had to be cut drastically, obviously because of the telephone bill. that's the price we have to pay for this long distance relationship.

and i miss her so much, soooo very much :(

babies

i bet i haven't told you guys about the cats that's residing in this house. remember the female cat that i've wrote inside this blog some time ago? the cat which gave birth to 3 kittens but all of them died a few days after they was born. about 2 month ago, she gave birth again, but this time, 5 kittens came out and it's like hells break loose!! so 5 kittens plus their mom and another cat that my mom's friend gave before the kitten was born, there are 7 cats inside this house!

ok, so you're saying that kittens are cute. surely they are. but not when they start to poop. we doesn't let them inside the house but to just let they roam freely at the back of the house, which maybe could be said to be a store. but the stinks from their shit caught our nose, and to overcome it, we must wash it daily. yeah, you guessed right, there's no other suitable candidate besides me. i wouldn't mind cleaning those poop but in order to do that, i have to move several heavy things out of the way so that i could clean it throughly. and not to mention the stench! but i still have to do it, coz to abandon 5 small kittens seems so mean. each time i wash their shit, i imagined what cem had to do everyday.

talking about kittens, i've just watched the television series, House. if you're not familliar with it, it is a story of a doctor with a high ego trip named George House. it's a television series on AXN astro. i didn't watch the series that much, but the case tonight is about a woman who carries a baby inside her womb, but at the same time, suffers cancer. cancer treatments would be harmful for the baby but the baby wasn't due to labour yet, so they have to perform Caesarean if they wanted to save the mom and the baby, as delaying the cancer treatment would be fatal to the mom. but the mom insist that she'll wait a few more weeks so that the baby's probability to live would be higher, thus risking her own life. of course there are a few drama here and there but in the end, her cancer worsen and her husband had to make a choice either to save her, or the baby. but at the end, she died, but the baby lives.

the point i wanted to make here is if you're a husband, and you're inside that situation to choose wether to save your wife or your baby, who would you choose? yeah, we've see the cliche speech on movies where the mom cries and said that she rather die coz she's old and that the baby had a long way to go ahead of him/her. i agree that's a noble act, but if you're her husband, and if you're the only one responsible to make a desicion, who would you choose? a baby who you have to take care of, which you don't know if she/he will grow up hating or loving you, or your wife, which will surely love you as long as you love her back, and probably be a less burden than a baby?

i'm not trying to be harsh here. i didn't say that i don't like children. but watching this episode got me thinking. hmmm.....

ok, till then, adios amigos!!

Saturday, December 10, 2005

too much love will kill you??

even being at home with an internet connection doesn't guarantee that i'll update this blog everyday, eventhough i'm using the internet almost everyday. nothing much going on during this holiday. i spent most of the time at home doing what i do best, eating and sleeping. i'm outside the house only when nececities occurs such as going to the supermarket to buy light bulb, or sometimes santan etc. nothing that involves spending my precious time chilling out with friends.

i've read syikin's blog about the love thing, and i couldn't agree more, but the way i see it, it makes love looks like nothing more than a heartbreaks and more heartbreaks. of course lah we should be rational and prepare for the worse, but that doesn't apply only to our love life, isn't it? lets expand the situation and relate it inside our life. everything in our life wouldn't be the way it always be for the rest of our life. things change and even decease, and we live our life every second not knowing what would happend next. so that's why people would say that by putting too much hope or love for someone or something will make you suffer in the end, the higher we climb, the harder the fall would be. but that doesn't apply to every situation isn't it? like i said, we didn't know what the future holds. so by doing something or loving something whole heartedly with the awareness that things could and would go bad, which is sometimes out of our control, could provide a safety net so that the fall wouldn't be that hard, and the process to rebuilt our strength wouldn't take that long. but of course the advice not to do or love things whole heartedly are applicable for those who wanted to play safe. even my mom used to advice me not to depend 100% on someone. yeah, experience is the best teacher. so just live your life the way you wanted it to be, and be prepared. life doesn't meant to be easy.

too much love will kill you, in fact, too much of anything will kill you as well.

vita+amine = vitamin

i've just realized that vitamin originally came from the word vita+amine, where vita was taken from a latin word meaning life while amine was actually a short abbrevation from amino acid as vitamin was origanally thought to contain amino asid. so when i said viva vita!, it was actually an italian word combined with latin, which means long live life!

even i don't really know what's the point i'm posting this either...

wild meat



i've just finished reading (actually i finished it 3 days ago but i'm only writing about it today) the book wild meat and bully burgers which was bought by syikin, and later on borrowed by me, and all in all, i could say that it is an interesting book!

it is a story about a young japanese-american girl living in hawaii who're always being jeered by her schoolmates and tried so hard to fit in the so called standard model of success.

the story is very funny but yet, sad, especially when you imagined how poor her family is when they have to settle for home-made and second best, even a friend act like he had nothing to do with her just to be accepted.

and currently, i'm reading sleepers, which is written by lorenzo carcaterra. there was a movie with the same title made based on this book but i haven't seen it yet.

speaking about movies based on books, i've found the dvd version of prozac nation, the movie that i've long searched just because the book, also with the same title and written by elizabeth wurtzel, was really awesome! but i just didn't have enough money at that time and so i just walk away with the hope that it wouldn't run out of stock in just a few days. i'm also searching for the first book written by the same authur, which is entitled 'bitch', as it's the only title by the authur that i haven't read. she only had 3 books out which is 'bitch', 'prozac nation' and 'more, now and again'. prozac nation and more, now and again was a memoir of her handling her depression and drug addiction while bitch was said to touch on feminism and such.

oh, and i felt sorry for the cancelled gig at seremban due to the black metal thing, which is really suck!

p/s: the picture i've posted above wasn't really the cover of the book i'm reading. maybe the cover version is different for different countries, or maybe it's the different pressing. tapi papehal pun, gua pun nak main letak-letak gambar macam lokman buat. muahahaha!

Friday, December 09, 2005

deepset deepset!

mai mai... jangan tak mai!!!

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Sunday, December 04, 2005

mari belajar bahasa...

aku sudah agak lama terpengaruh untuk menulis dalam bahasa melayu, dan kali ini, setelah melihat rakan-rakan yang lain menulis, boleh ku katakan, aku amat tertarik dari segi penyampaian mereka melalui bahasa yg senang difahami ini.

namun setelah melayari beberapa blog rakan serta rakan kepada rakan, kudapati pemahaman ku terhadap bahasa di dalam rumpun melayu ini begitu cetek sekali, sehinggakan begitu sukar untuk aku fahami apa yang cuba disampaikan. seringkali bahasa yang digunakan mirip atau diselitkan bahasa dari negara jiran, seperti yang sedang dieksperimentas oleh gue ini. dan seperti juga bahasa malaysia, terdapat beberapa perkataan yang di'bajak' (diambil) dari bahasa inggeris, juga bahasa dari ketamadunan yang lain. namun, tidak semudah yang gue fikirkan, ianya begitu sukar untuk difahami.

fenomena in membuat aku tertanya-tanya, bagaimana kita, dari golongan yang sukar untuk memahami bahasa-bahasa tertentu, atau maksud perkataan-perkataan tertentu, ingin mengungkap maksud ayat atau artikel itu secara keseluruhan. jika aku katakan bahawa mereka ini perlu menggunakan bahasa yang lebih mudah difahami agar mesej mereka mudah diterima oleh orang 'kebanyakkan', sudah tentu dengan mudahnya aku dibidas, sepertimananya juga bidasan beberapa golongan hc/punk yang mempersoalkan apabila terdapat band atau individu yang ingin menyampaikan hasil seni mereka ataupun mesej mereka kepada audien yang lebih besar, mudah saja dipatahkan oleh mereka yang terlibat. sudah tentu situasinya berbeda, ianya sekadar metaphor.

disini, dapat dilihat bahawa situasi yang boleh memenangkan kedua-dua belah pihak tentunya pertama, pihak yang menyampai menggunakan bahasa yang yang mudah difahami golongan kebanyakkan, seperti yang dibincangkan di atas tadi, ataupun kedua, golongan yang membaca yang perlu memahami apa yang ingin disampaikan, tidak kira dengan apa cara sekalipun. tetapi, gue pikir, kesinambungan dari kedua-dua method ini juga perlu agar tiada pihak yang merasakan usahanya untuk berkongsi ataupun menerima ilmu hanya berlaku di sebelah pihak sahaja, sama ada yang menyampai itu syok sendiri dengan bahasa dan bidalan yang kompleks sehinggakan si penerima itu naik jelek untuk terus membaca/mendengar dan memahami lalu mengabaikannya terus, ataupun si penyampai itu sendiri yang naik jelek kerna perlu menerangkan butiran yang ingin disampaikan dengan begitu terperinci tanpa ada apa tindakan dari pihak yang menerima untuk cuba mencari sendiri atau mendalami maksud-maksud yang disampaikan.

iya, ilmu itu ada di mana-mana, namun siapa bilang semuanya mudah untuk dipelajari. daa..

Saturday, December 03, 2005

khasiat timun

Khasiat Timun
Posted By : Ronnie S. Porong, S.S.
GPdI Lippo Cikarang


Timun atau mentimun adalah tanaman merambat yang mempunyai sulur dahan berbentuk spiral. Biasanya ditanam di sawah dan di ladang-ladang sebagai tanaman untuk sayur ataupun rujak. Daunnya bertangkai panjang, bentuknya lebar bertaju dengan pangkal berbentuk jantung, ujung runcing, tepi bergerigi. Batangnya berbulu halus-halus. Bunganya berwarna kuning. Buahnya berbentuk bulat panjang, tumbuh bergantung, berwarna hijau keputihan sepanjang 10-20 cm, berbiji banyak dan mengandung air. Timun ada beberapa jenis, antara lain watang, turus, suri, dan krai.

Buah dari tumbuhan yang bernama latin Cucumis sativus ini dipercaya mengandung zat-zat saponin (mengeluarkan lendir), protein, lemak, kalsium, fosfor, besi, belerang, vitamin A, B1, dan C. Biji buah mentimun mengandung banyak vitamin E untuk menghambat penuaan dan menghilangkan keriput. Timun mentah bersifat menurunkan panas dalam, meningkatkan stamina, dan lain-lain. Selain itu, timun juga mengandung flavonoid dan polifenol sebagai antiradang serta mengandung asam malonat yang berfungsi menekan gula agar tidak berubah menjadi lemak, yang baik untuk mengurangi berat badan. Kandungan seratnya yang tinggi berguna untuk melancarkan buang air besar, menurunkan kolesterol, dan menetralkan racun. Mentimun juga mengandung kukurbitasin C, yang berkhasiat untuk meningkatkan kekebalan tubuh dan mencegah penyakit hepatitis.

Berikut ini sejumlah contoh penggunaan timun bagi kesehatan yang dihimpun dari berbagai sumber:

Obat Sariawan
Buah yang sering digunakan sebagai pelengkap hidangan rujak ini ternyata bermanfaat untuk meredakan sariawan atau seriawan. Dengan memakannya setiap hari dalam jumlah cukup banyak, niscaya buah yang memberi rasa dingin di rongga mulut ini mampu meredam "panas" sariawan. Tentu saja memakannya tanpa bumbu rujak atau sambal terasi, supaya mulut tidak malah jadi "terbakar". K. Heyne Voderman dalam bukunya, Tijdschr. v. Inl. Geneeskundigen 1895, mengaku menyaksikan penderita sariawan yang berusaha berobat ke Eropa dengan hasil sia-sia. Bahkan, mereka menjadi kekurangan darah. Mereka akhirnya sembuh sempurna setelah setiap hari memakan sembilan buah ketimun selama beberapa bulan sembari melakukan diet ketat terhadap susu, telur, dan anggur.
Sayangnya, senyawa yang dikandung buah yang sangat berair ini belum diketahui akibat sangat langkanya penelitian yang dilakukan.

Perawatan Kulit dan Wajah
Perawatan dengan buah-buahan selama ini dianggap relatif aman bagi kesehatan kulit wajah dan rambut. Perawatan kecantikan seperti ini lebih baik daripada menggunakan produk kosmetika yang umumnya mengandung zat kimia. Kelebihan lain, perawatan ini bisa dilakukan sendiri di rumah pada saat-saat senggang. Timun sangat cocok digunakan untuk semua jenis kulit. Kandungan airnya mampu menyegarkan kulit wajah. Cara memakainya pun sangat mudah. Letakkan irisan timun pada wajah beberapa saat, lalu gosokkan perlahan-lahan pada seluruh wajah dan leher. Untuk pembersih dan penyegar wajah, gunakan masker campuran timun yang dicincang dan yoghurt. Diyakini campuran ini cocok untuk semua jenis kulit. Yang perlu diingat, pilihlah buah-buahan yang cocok dengan jenis kulit agar mendapatkan wajah segar berseri seperti yang diinginkan.

Memperlancar Air Seni dan Menurunkan Darah Tinggi
Jus timun merupakan salah satu diuresis terbaik untuk melancarkan air seni dan juga menurunkan darah tinggi. Selain itu jenis sayuran ini enak dimakan mentah serta menyehatkan.

Mata Yang Sering Lelah dan Mengantuk
Tempelkan irisan timun sebesar mata setiap tiga menit selama 20 menit pada kelopak untuk mengatasi mata yang sering lelah dan mengantuk.

Obat Jerawat
Ambil timun sebiji, iris-iris secukupnya sesuai kebutuhan. Tempelkan pada muka, khususnya daerah yang berjerawat.

Obat Demam
Ambil timun dua-tiga biji. Parut dan peras airnya. Tempelkan parutan buah pada bagian perut. Lakukan hingga demam mereda. Timun kaya akan silikon dan fluorin dan rendah kandungan kalorinya. Kalium membantu merangsang ginjal untuk membuang sisa metabolisme dan deposit lemak. Baik untuk kulit kering, kulit yang terbakar sinar matahari, eksem, gangguan hati, serta untuk kesehatan rambut dan kuku. Gunakan sebagai pasta untuk mengobati gigitan serangga, gatal-gatal karena tumbuhan, dan kulit yang terbakar matahari.

taken from www.gpdi-online.org

Thursday, December 01, 2005

viva vita!!

i'm back again in JB. i'm on my one month holiday and for only a month end-of-semester holiday, i couldn't expect anything much going on except to have as much rest, sleep and eat as much food as i can. hahahahaha!

so, the hot thing for this week is of course, the vitamin x show at paul's place. a lot of people turn out and when i say a lot, i really mean a lot! for you who have been to the new paul's place at jalan klang lama, just imagine a full packed crowd from the stage to the bar.of course the description only applies when vitamin x was playing but from what i know, the tickets sold for the gig was more or less 300!

i'm not capable of writing a full review about the gig as i turn out late and missed the first band, which is an awesome screamo band, at least i speak. so here's my review 'separuh masak' about the gig.

as i said earlier, i arrived late at the venue on the evening of november 26. for those who don't know, there have been some complications on all sorts of area regarding the gig. from the venue, to the numbers of band playing and the highly 'vicious' and sometimes senseless demands of the 'scenesters'.

speaking of this, i want to state that i strongly disagree to some of the comments made inside the ricecooker page regarding this gig, especially regarding what band to play on the show. i'm not trying to back up hisham or anyone for this matter, but when they're demanding for a straight-edge band to play, and that most of the band on the first list aren't 'tight' enough to play with vitamin x, for me, it was just plain senseless. i mean, who are you to judge what band are on the top of the list or cool enough to play with vitamin x? where's the spirit of supporting each other when at first, we're complaining that it's always the same band playing at gigs (i'm referring to previous posting in ricecooker of previous gigs) and suddenly, when some not so usual band that played, they're complaining that the bands aren't good enough to play with an overseas band like vitamin x? and is it a must that a straight edge band played during the show with vitamin x? it's like people are worshipping this band too much that we forgot that there is more to this than attacking one personality with mere rage or jealousy. i'm not saying that vitamin x didn't deserve the attention whatsoever. they're one of the greatest band in the international hc scene, and they're also one of the pioneer of the sxe hardcore movement, surely they'll get recognized and worshipped all over the world, and that's ok for me. but when other gig, with or without an overseas band, organizing shows with RM15 at the door, why do people didn't say as much as this gig (i do remember the 'fuck the rich kids' gig but after that, there weren't much complains for gig with RM15 enterance. correct me if i'm wrong)? when people complaining for the RM15 gig enterence, i understand that what they need was a clear explaination on the expenditures of this gig such as the venue payment and the expected payment for each band and the oversea band or whatsoever. whew, this seems way out of the line, so, what i'm saying is, i'm not against people saying things that they disagree with, but when they're attacking a certain someone with mere rage, sometimes what they're saying seems so pointless as it is filled with rage, and the message they want to convey couldn't reach other people, as what other people see was an angry statement dedicated to someone rather than a discussion or argument to correct what's wrong for what's better.

so, continuing on the gig review, what i wanted to say was the venue of the gig was changed due to some permit problem (as what the organizer said), some last minute additional band and the very last minute announcement of the gig being delayed to 6pm due to the delayed flights of the vitamin x band members.

while i arrived at the gig venue, there were so many people lepak-lepak downstairs, so i just assume that the gig hasn't started yet and goes straight to the mamak stall nearby with some friends to fill up my empty stomach. it was when i was about to go inside the paul's place that i realized that i've missed the set by at least i speak! sorry guys.. so when i finally got to get inside the paul's place after having to que up due to the 'massive' crowd, young and dangerous was playing. i've watched them played sometime ago at JB and i bet the sound system this time must be better, or its themselves that had improved since during the vitamin x show, the trashing sounds came out clear and i enjoyed it.

after young and dangerous, dead symphony was due on stage. i take the opportunity between intervals to go in front of the stage to see the bands clearer since the crowd was less packed during the intervals. dead symphony came up on stage and there they are with the new lineup, with wan hazril, mohsen and hanif. only gulam and aref are the original old line up. hearing their recording on the 2 way split with dead by 6, i would say that i didn't prefer it much. but with the new line up on stage, they're good at ripping the place apart! they got this mixture of grind and metal and they're really good at it! i would say that i enjoy their set more than vitamin x.

the most anticipated band of the day other than vitamin x, mass separation will be on stage after dead symphony. i didn't want to miss the 'action' so i kept my position in front of the stage intact. they're quite late to gather on the stage but as usual, their set was undoubtly 'entertaining' and energetic, from the bandmates, to the crowd. with the crowd singing along together, i wouldn't miss the atmosphere and joined them singing along the tunes. there was some times that i get mad when somebody stepped on my feet, but what da heck, nobody told me to go to gig with selipar jepun and be in front of the stage. hehehe... how i regret not wearing shoes that day.

i was so soaked up after the performance by mass separation that i was so glad when azy ask me to have a drink downstairs with him. last minute will be performing next but my tiredness overcome it all. we hurried to go upstairs after having our drink but the crowd was so packed that i rather sit on the stairs while listening to the bands performing rather than watching them inside the crowded people.

selfmadegod will be on next on stage and again, i'm taking the opportunity between intervals to go in font, but this time not only in front of the stage, but on the stage.

their line up only consist of sham, wan and yus, which means that they didn't have a bass player. i don't know weather it's an advantage or disadvantage, but i'm really impressed with yus as their drummer. he's good!

by the end of selfmadegod set, people starts filling the space inside the venue. and as selfmadegod finished playing, vitamin x has already arrived at the venue.

as was told earlier, i'm able to secure a place up on the stage, but when people starts filling the place up, people also goes up the stage for a better view of the bands playing. and so, to make the stage less crowded for the band, the owner of the place, the organizer and the band itself ask if the people on stage could make way for the band. so, off the stage i go and i went inside the packed crowd. i was even thinking of backing off so i wouldn't be crushed in between people that were much bigger than me, but as this was an opportunity of a lifetime, i keep myself as close i could get to the stage eventhough that means my feet will be more open to be stepped and get bruised. and with marco, the vocalist kept slamming to the crowd near me, i would say that i'm constantly being crushed downward or being sandwiched by the crowd. but vitamin x set isn't as long as i imagined. i'm not really a fan of them so it's understandable if i didn't know what songs they've played on the stage, except of course, the famous first step. yea, you can call me poseur for not being a fan of vitamin x.

the show ended around midnight, if i'm not mistaken, and after a small thirst quenching ceremony with some friends at the mamak stall, we make our way to shah alam.

so, all in all, it was a great and sucessful show. i heard that the local bands that played for that night was payed RM150 for each band and that is rare. i'm not sure how much they paid vitamin x but for RM150 for local bands would be a fortune. imagine if bands will get that amount of money at each show, and assuming that they make use of it for the bands itself, or for good deeds or at least not for their own individual satisfaction/interest, imagine how much progress we could make inside the small scene.

that's all for the gig. and now, it seems too long enough for me to write about other stuff (actually i'm just plain lazy), so till next time, have a great time!