They’re just so majestic and fascinating. I have a fixation for big things, stuff larger than life and in your face. Ok in view of the last post, that might’ve sounded obscene. Now there’s news that dinos could’ve been warm-blooded.

Doesn't this big guy inspire awe?

Where was Bruce Willis when the dinos needed him?

Kind of terrifying huh… imagine the chaos on Earth. If not directly wiped out by it, life would’ve been severely disrupted by big changes in climate and atmospheric content. Kind of sad when you think about it… these magnificent beasts, more massive than anything that had ever walked on Earth, killed by a cosmic rock.

Another fascinating period in prehistoric times was the Cambrian Explosion, something I remember during my Biology days. It was a period where there was a sudden rapid appearance of many bizarrely unique and new groups of funny looking little creatures… they’re awesome! They’re spectacular in and of themselves, as well as because of why they suddenly just came to be. Almost like a little divine experiment…

Depiction of what was discovered at the Burgess Shale fossil field, which dates mid-Cambrian

Ancient civilizations and even more ancient life forms have always captured my interest and imagination. Maybe in another life I’ll be a paleontologist or a historian. Always looking into the past so we may better understand our present and future.

I thought I was pretty well-versed (in theory if not in practical) in different sexually-related terms but djb surprised me with a new one: double action. Tee hee hee. Experiencing it brings new dimension to words like ‘explosive’.

When I saw the huge bouquet of flowers, it never even occurred to me that they were from you. See, that’s the thing. You would never do something you didn’t like to do just because it MIGHT make somebody happy. And yet I’m the one casted as the bad guy in some stage drama that doesn’t even feel like my life anymore.

“PH Fatigue. That’s what you’ve got, Aileen. It is a side effect of survival. When patients were living the Textbook 3-5 Year Prognosis, they didn’t get to the point of being tired of living with PH. They just wanted to survive. But for those of us who are surviving longer there is an actual emotional cost. I almost never talk about it for fear that I would sound ungrateful for my longevity when there are some patients who are hoping to live as long as I have. And they have a right to want that. However, I think with any disease that makes life hard it is not uncommon to feel “sick and tired of being sick and tired”. And then there is the endurance associated with the harsh meds which keep us alive.”

If there’s one guy whose music video links I don’t ignore, it’s my ex-colleague Tay. Emily Haines’ voice is like an angel’s.

The stream sucks because our connection is so 3rd world…
But I just wanted to release some excitement of hearing them play an old classic! They’re playing The Unforgettable Fire now, sighh…

Omg Sunday Bloody Sunday. The Edge rocks.

They dedicated ‘Walk On’ to Aung San Suu Kyi and got volunteers and Amnesty International to walk out. Isn’t the stadium massive?

“One” is playing now!! Or at least, I’m hearing it now, lol. My stream’s a bit slow. They got Desmond Tutu to give inspiring words and then it lead to the song. Amazing!

Here’s another screenshot of how huge the place is.

And omg again!! Bono started out with Amazing Grace, and then the strains of “Where The Streets Have No Name” start coming in. Awesome stuffff. I forgot how much I love U2!

More stadium madness:

Whoa… another great classic, one of the most loved rock ballads, “With Or Without You”. I love the extra stanzas they add for their live performances. Wonder if they’ll do it here. (Guess not!)

Bono asked everyone to hold their phones up. Isn’t it cool? Like a little Milky Way.

They said good bye

The rebroadcast is starting soon. Awesome stuff, U2… thanks for making my day!

My heart actually skipped a beat, my ears pricked, breath held for a while when I got a msg from my cousin:

hey u heard right
your favourite band might come next month

what?? what?? w ho???
u2? PJ?

pearl jam
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20091014090419/Article/index_html

Whoaa… I almost freaked out. I felt… light, happy, like Providence finally a nice gift for me! Even though it’s right now kind of a “might”, “maybe” thing and a million things could come and fuck it up, like PAS Youth declaring the band will corrupt the youth and get them barred from entering or imposing stupid restrictions that’ll turn the band off this country for 3 lifetimes… I still felt, wow, there is nothing like the present that is full of open doors of opportunities…

Lol.

I immediately Googled Ed Ved for a little evening fix.

Okay just add a bit more scruffiness and a bit more weight, and he looks practically the same today

The last I checked last week, Rock Corner still hasn’t brought in Backspacer the new album. Curse you, currrseee you Rock Corner. I’ll go check it again today.

Gotta love the artwork. Gotta love Pearl Jam!

All of us in the office just felt the earthquake all the way in Sumatra which measured about 7.9 on the Richter. I heard some commotion then felt this nauseating swaying motion which made me wonder if my blood pressure was low today lol. The glass doors to our adjacent rooms were swaying. The timing is so close to the Samoan quake too. Lots of people FB-ing and Tweeting about it. Someone’s comment made me laugh out loud: “I feel the earth, move, under my feet…”

Do you need it? From whom or what? Why do some people seek it from say, having many ‘friends’ or going out a lot or cozying up to random people they meet? “Look at me, look at me,” they scream with their 1,000,001 social networking pictures. Okayy… ask yourself, what have you achieved and what do you want to achieve? Have you gotten a step closer?

In my own industry it’s hard not to want to be validated by awards. There is merit in your work being judged for a certain standard of craft and creativity… but for it to be effective in meeting the objectives, craft and creativity can often be sacrificed. Truly great stuff measure up in all ways.

I’ve been disappointed by the lack of any recent wins and even anything much to submit in the first place, and I said as much to the in-house Donald Trump… he talked about the economy, how billable work has decreased so there’s no chance for us to do any novel stuff anyway, blabla… Oh well.

On a more personal level… I think the way I validate my place in this world is really, what have I done today to make a difference to someone/something. Did I cheer up someone with a lame joke, did I show empathy or kindness to somebody who needs it, did I discard somebody’s feelings, did I make a significant contribution in my work? It’s not at all how many people like me (and I know I’m not exactly your charming air kissing socialite) but how I treat the people/things I care about. 

I think it’s only when you set a bar for yourself is when it really, really doesn’t matter what other people think of you. You self validate.

Great. NOW they report this article – The Appendix: Useful and In Fact, Promising – just months after they took mine out. ><