The Big Read

Spotted this in the news...
Following on from the last post, do something!
The Big Read is a campaign to try to get free public education for all.

Education campaigners have compiled their stories into a book, which you can read online here, with the aim of getting governments to make education a constitutional right.

Sign the petition HERE.

And watch this video, because it's pretty great :)

Pages are the Food of Sages

Happy World Book Day!!

Collecting receipts for tax purposes tells me that I've spent at least RM 600 on books and it's only been 4 months into the year. YAY! (Bear in mind, I am a cheap book trundler and my favourite shop of the moment is BookExcess that sells brand new but cheap because they take in over-runs, slight misprints, etc etc.)

Books are pretty much my biggest indulgence at the moment. I've forsaken my ever-stylish fashion (*cough cough*), my extravagant jet-setting lifestyle (*cough cough cough*) and my energetic clubbing routine (*cough cough hack*) for a homelier sit-on-a-couch-and-curl-up-with-a-good-book lifestyle. Which is SOOOO not what you'd imagine i'd do. *roll eyes*

Anyhoos, i am truly happy about world book day because book stores are totally into it offering great discounts. Cheaper books makes Jeannie a happy bunny. =)

I read the other day that while Malaysia's literacy rate is really pretty darn high (approaching the 90th percentile if i'm not mistaken), we have a very poor reading culture. The stats on the 85% of Malaysians that read regularly, 77% read newspapers, 3% preferred magazines, 3% read books and only 1.6% read comics.

No, really. 3% read books?

If you are Malaysian and have attended ANY book warehouse sale, you will definitely dispute that statement. Who the heck did they survey anyway? Have you SEEN the aunties grabbing books off the shelves? Heck, they're strewn in random stacks by the time you can get to any books! (Look, this lady blogged about it. Check it out and scroll down so you can see the madness)

We're probably the only country that has Happy Hours on their books. Picture stolen off this blog.

The only rational explanations I can think of are:

1) The survey was carried out with a very limited pool of respondents. Probably busy government office type people who have to trundle through newspapers to see who to arrest next.
2) The crazy people at book fairs are really only crazy over their kiasu nature. They buy the books to use as kindling for fires, as roof tiles, toilet paper, tables, chairs, wall deco... I mean, i have bought my share of books where the pictures already make their RM 10's worth. (I feel really sad for these books because i'm probably paying less than what it costs to print the book. What about the author's royalties?) Why you buy books? CHEAP WHAT! How to miss such a bargain!??! Not to mention reading materials are TAX EXEMPT up to RM 1000. Cheaper than buying furniture...
3) The large majority of people living OUTSIDE this crazy cosmopolitan world of KL cannot actually access books.


You know, I'm gonna actually opt for number 1 and 3. Living in the city, it's easy to forget that the world doesn't revolve around you and that you know, people are living vastly different lives just across the border.

Currently, 45% of bookstores are in the Klang Valley, 20% in Penang and Perak,
while Johor has 10%.

In some rural areas, books arrive by boat! While we are choked with glitzy bookstores, some kids don't even have a place to find things to read.


No credit to our National Library, which, when last I went (about 8 years ago), was dark, gloomy, depressing, full of antiquated books that catered to... well, noone. Even as I surf the website now, they show their latest reference books - Baby and Toddler Sleep Solutions for Dummies, The Macmillan English Dictionary, The Embedded Internet, Total Supply Chain Management, Stabilising an Unstable Economy... How, intellectual.

Anyway, my bone to pick is this. While other libraries are under-stocked, the National Library's idea of celebrating World Book Day is this (and I quote):

Various activities based on reading will be held from today, with the Jom Membaca event as the main highlight, where 200 guests will be reading together for five minutes.
The main objective of the programme is to cultivate an interest in reading and generate a positive mindset towards reading as a lifestyle.

So your HIGHLIGHT of World Book Day is to gather 200 people into a room. Say, 'Alright people, this is our main event!' [crazy crowd cheering!] 'Let's countdown now!' 'THREE! [Crowd chants in unison], TWO! [roars of excitement] READ! [five minutes of silence]


No, really. 200 people read in a room. BIG WHOOP. I'm sure that will impact those people so greatly that they will pick up the habit for life. In fact, who are these 200 people anyway? Government officials and library staff? Way to reach out to the public.


I'd rather you unveiled a prize for the best upcoming authors, opened a new library for a rural community, distributed excerpts of the best books of all time... Anything that would spark off an interest in people. Needless to say I don't believe 5 minutes reading time will work.
Not to mention if it's our government officials, at least 3 of those 5 minutes will be spent dozing off.


I have a not-so-subtle disdain for the national education system, as you can tell, and reading, or the lack of, is just a minor peeve. But let's leave that for now. Reading really is wonderful, and i'm saying this after 3 years of trudging through sociological journals and political ideologies (not my favourite reading material). Let's end this on a more positive note.


Jeannie's picks from not-so-recent to recent reading:

• Time Traveler's Wife (but you already knew that) by Audrey Niffeneger (sth like that)
• Cautionary Tales for Grown-Ups by Chris Addison (very light reading)
• Marley and Me by John Grogan (cos it made me cry)
• Anything Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (because it's dated but very fun reading a literary CSI)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (because it's amazing the perspective he gives you)
• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne-Jones (because it's nothing like the anime which is fun in its own right)
• One Big Damn Puzzler by John Harding (because the story line is amazingly unique. And you can pick up vocab like pwili)
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (because their wit combined is amazing)
• Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman (his take on the corporate law world is really funny! Sharp biting cynicism- love it!)
• Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (was written about 50 years ago but is a great piece of science fiction. People's reactions are totally spot on)

Now Go Forth and... Read! (stop trolling the internet, it doesn't count)

Friends, friends, friends, friends....

I just read an article in the New York Times that says that friendships have a bigger impact on a person than their familial and spousal relationships.

People with a group of 10 close friends or more have been shown to be 22% more likely to live longer, to have better brain health and to overcome crises.

That's a pretty big deal.

In fact, friends can change your outlook so much that you are 60% more likely to be obese if your friends start gaining weight. (Well, you jump i jump; you eat i eat too?)

Last year, researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill.
Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone.
The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
“People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”

Aaawww.. heart-warming? The clear indication being, if you're going to put yourself through some harrowing trials and tribulations, best to grab a good friend and set out to do it. (Climb Mount Kinabalu guys??)

But enough quoting an article, the point being last week at a high school semi-reunion, it was nice to know that despite 10 years of knowing each other, a significant number of us still keep in touch and don't hate each others' guts enough to go into avoidance mode.
There are too many people I don't meet up with enough, catch up with, learn more about, have good conversations with... and despite the distance, sometimes it's just because we don't make the effort.
It's a lot harder to find out what someone thinks of the world as opposed to 'what did you think about that guy who sang on American Idol last night'. One takes an hour of your life watching a show, the other needs you to take time building a relationship and breaking down walls.
But it's always really rewarding to be able to count yourself as a friend for the unlikeliest candidates. And more often than not, I gain philosophical sparring partners too. (What's the fun in everyone agreeing all the time?)

So, to all my friends from every walk of life from every corner of the world. Thank you and let's reconnect! This one's for you....

Singapore, 3 am matches and absurd hope

Silence can be blamed on a weekend trip across the Causeway to our neater, smaller, slightly more kiasu neighbours down under. I've said it too many times but I cannot stress how much fun I had this time around, travelling somewhat by myself, meeting my friends who took such good care of me and just being able to hang out with some cool people.
Highlights:

• discovering Singapore has a red light district. You sure that backpackers came recommended in Lonely Planet, Tiki?
• eating eating and eating. Taka food court is a fascination!
• Rockstar cat in CATS the Musical. It was like he was the Johnny Depp of the show! Meeeeeeeeowwww... Definitely my fave cat. The characterisations were excellent though. Subtle little movements like the twitch of the head or slinky arching of the body that really did bring the cats to life.
• Them big melons that Allen Melon and I spotted. Juicy and giant.
• Salmon teriyaki at Yingyi's house! Plus fruit tarts. Such a gracious hostess.
• 'Cha Choking' around at Brewerkz in Clarke Quay. I never knew I was such a gossip. But i am.
• The excellent food at GRAZE. Lordy, haven't had such a scrumptious English breakfast for forever! I <3>

Again, thanks for a great trip. Definitely going back soon!

Anyway, for the last time this season, I woke up at 3 am my time to watch the Champions League quarter-final match between Chelsea and Liverpool.

[WARNING: The following is potentially mind-numbing football talk]

You may have known that Liverpool lost. Boo. But what a match!
It struck me while watching the game that Hope truly does Spring Eternal. And even under the most absurd conditions.
Any football fan, particularly Liverpool supporters (because we are always angsty til the last few minutes), will know what it feels like to shout profanities at your team, at the other team, to tear your hair out for wasted opportunities and scream at the referee for falling for such a blatant act.

Well, as I was in just that predicament, watching my beloved Liverpool having to score 3 goals away at Stamford Bridge, at half time, the score was 2-0 to us. How brilliant, i thought. We just need 1 more and we're in. Then lo and behold some defensive blunders meant we were drawn at 2-2. Oh bloody hell. We need another 2 goals to win on aggregate, and for the many goalless minutes it did truly feel like it would never come. And then Lampard whips in another to make it 3-2 to the other team. Despair was starting to flood in.

Suddenly, we score 2 goals in quick succession and this was the point where i realised

Hope has no logic. I was very much convinced that in those last 15 minutes of the match, we could whip in the necessary goal to make it through to the semi-finals. If we could score 4 goals away, which i thought impossible, then why not, right?

And even when Lampard drove another nail of a goal into our coffin, i believed, in those dying minutes, that Liverpool could turn around and score 2 more goals.

I find it absurd that while in other games, a goal seems to be the hardest thing to get. That i don't have this expectation of Liverpool to score even in 90 minutes. Yet, when there have already been 4 goals, AWAY (what are the odds of that?), the impossiblity of everything just drives my hope even higher.

Does that mean that hopes are never to be satisfied? That pushed to the limit, you will just keep pushing?
Maybe it was just the visible drive of the team. The never give up. Never say die attitude. We didn't win but I sure am proud of them.

Then again, those are typical words of a fan on the losing side, right?

sexay misconduct

Real Life HappoSai!!

Okay, both snigger and eeewww at the news that in Sabah (shame shame.. hometown) , a PANTY-THIEF was arrested!

He took about 70 pairs and particularly took a shine to those of nursing students in an apartment.

Which reminds me of Ranma 1/2 (which i did use to watch) and the underwear stealing dirty old grandpa in the series. Hehehe...

Well, it could be love...

In other sexy news, I totally love this article in the BBC. It starts off with disgraced UK Home Secretary's husband and his 'charge-my-porn-expenses-on-taxpayers'-money' ways. Which most people are unhappy about, by the way. (Think of the endless possibilities if it was okayed! - work related expenses = strip clubs for emotional stability, porno for visual stimulation to kickstart idea generation...)

Anyway, writer then goes on to say that FOR THE SAKE OF RESEARCH, he has checked out porn at most hotels he's stayed at and concluded that, *drumroll please*

Porn is to keep one's mind off sex when one's partner is absent

Hehe.. He makes pretty good arguments though:

1) Porno actors have zilch personality therefore not erotic

2) Well groomed areas and harsh lighting = clinical therefore not erotic

3) Brainless storyline = not erotic (apparently)

OKay, then he goes all mushy like:

Because there is only one secret about sex, and that is that it's a feeling, and you can't see feeling.

But you can see porno for entertainment pleasure! Personally, i don't think erotic movies are a bad thing. I KNOW noone will believe me when i say i don't watch any, but you know, whatever floats your boat, right?

Some people like watching other people doing it (and yeah, you do get that little bit gigglier when Animal Planet shows something naughty.. i do at least!) and it's probably a good education medium. (Think of the ALTERNATE physical education).

But be smart in your visual stimulation ways and, given the chance, Don't charge your porn-related expenses to the public. People aren't happy about it unless they get off too.

I Used to Roll the Dice, Feel the Fear in my Enemies' Eyes

In recent days, I've been listening to Coldplay's Viva La Vida. A lot. Like in the morning when I wake up (before i put on my make up... I say a little.. Gah! wait a minute!) Despite frequent radio airplay (would you consider it overplay? I don't hear it enough in the car) and all this grammy music awards hype, VIVA LA VIDA IS STILL A GREAT SONG!

I was curious and googled what the lyrics meant and people came up with all sorts of theories!Someone said it resembled Jesus and how his influence seems to be waning now, someone said it was about Hitler and WWII (and said theory-maker didn't remember who won the war!!) <-- [btw, i think this theory is a bit far-fetched bollocks but he's entitled to his opinion!], some people said it's any government/dictator/monarchy and their downfall and the most quoted one is Napoleon of the French Revolution (which i think is closest to the truth seeing as the album sleeve shows the French Revolution).

And look! From the horse's mouth (i guess that's horses' mouths seeing as there's 2 of them):

Bassist Guy Berryman explained to Q magazine July 2008 about this song that features lyrics about cavalries, missionaries and kings: "It's a story about a king who's lost his kingdom, and all the album's artwork is based on the idea of revolutionaries and guerrillas. There's this slightly anti-authoritarian viewpoint that's crept into some of the lyrics and it's some of the payoff between being surrounded by governments on one side, but also we're human beings with emotions and we're all going to die and the stupidity of what we have to put up with every day. Hence the album title."

Q magazine asked Chris Martin about the lyric on this song "I know Saint Peter won't call my name." The Coldplay lead singer replied: "It's about… You're not on the list. I was a naughty boy. It's always fascinated me that idea of finishing your life and then being analyzed on it. And it's that runs through most religions. That's why people blow up buildings. Because they think they're going to get lots of virgins. I always feel like saying, Just join a band (cackles head off). That is the most frightening thing you could possibly say to somebody. Eternal damnation. I know about this stuff
because I studied it. I was into it all. I know it. It's still mildly terrifying to me. And this is serious."

Anyway, my point is this is a great song because it almost feels like an epic poem. And not just some bubblegum 'Oh baby, i miss you, look at me, we were meant to be' kind of cheesy pop lyric.

I can't help thinking of a Lord of the Rings-esque Aragorn, stalking the streets, hiding his kingliness. And then in the phrase 'It was a wicked and wild wind, blew down the doors to let me in', can't you just imagine straggle-haired Aragorn pushing down the doors as all eyes lay on him? Mmmm.. maybe i just want to think of Viggo Mortensen (who only really looks good as Aragorn).

Mmm... King me, Aragorn! King ME!!

But back to the song, i think Chris Martin's song writing has just hit another level. Goodness knows there aren't enough songs that tell stories! I think is beautiful how you can almost live the experience of a fallen leader - from the point seas would rise when i gave the word until he sweeps the streets i used to own.
And then the return. I haven't figured if this is as a dead ghost, reentering hallowed halls or as a King, returning to assume his throne. (Which before he had the chance to, with the benefit of looking in, he thought he was better off without? Oh, who would ever want to be King?)

Anyway, English Literature was a while back so no more song analysis. It's just, everything about it - the instrumental arrangement, that steady drumbeat, the lyrics, it's so motivating and you can't help but feel some surge of emotion for the song. At least, that's what i think. If you could take all the grandness of an empire, distil it into a contemporary song, this would be it for me. =)

Now, has all that hyping up made you crave a listen? Happy to oblige...

Oh, i think they could've done better on the video. He gyrates weirdly like U2 videos of yore, no? Cool effects but Mmm... you think it would've been better with something related to the song?