Wither

I used to keep pretty looking leaves inside books, not as bookmarks but just hoping to hold on to them longer as they dry since they are so lovely. I would love to keep flowers the same way but very often when pressed, they lose their shapes and they usually stain as their colors fade into the pages.
From time to time, I would flip open the book and see the leaf has withered. The veins are the vascular tissue of the leave and they have interesting patterns much like our finger prints, and even more interesting when we look at it on a cellular scale. Leaves, like humans, actually shrivel and shrink in size as they wither. So it is interesting to occasionally flip open the pages to see the drying process as the colors disappear, the veins become more visible.

However, it isn't actually interesting to see a human wither and shrink in size as they start to pale. The flesh and fats slowly disappear as the food intake reduces, the skin slowly wrapping what's left revealing the skull outlines.

Very often it is heart-wrenching to see a love one lie in bed, not being able to do anything for him/her or at least you want to try but there is only so much you can do if you are caught in a "damn if I do, damn if I don't" situation. Prolonging the suffering or giving more time; to have the living keep their way of life or to have them dwell on what-ifs.

As we saw how Fiesty Charmaine's mother celebrate her death, we often wonder how much courage this woman has. She carried on living for her son, for her love ones. Her journey with Charmaine was tumultuous, nothing short of being a war on death, to prolong the inevitable. Her blogs are full of surprises and very often I wonder how she survived the ups and downs. The swings could easily kill the faint-hearted. Same as Steve Jobs' passing, we realised that lives are worth celebrating and everyone should live life to the fullest and fulfill your every wish/goal, so that there are no regrets; that the living can grow stronger celebrating one's past.

Grief yes, but don't let it keep you down from living through the withering process. Observe the journey of the veins and how interesting they were being part of your life - the living shall remember, shall grow and live on with memories.

What Transparency?

Here is a good article covered by Yawning Bread on Singapore's apparent lack of transparency.

Parliament sessions have started and PAPpy dogs are saying we should not fall into Europe's welfare system and see what is happening there now. Occupy Wall Street movement had a goal, to let governments know that Capitalists should not be the ones controlling the Government, their policies and the finance market. They resulted in losses which now is spreading across Countries with fingers pointed everywhere but themselves. Back are the huge bonuses and pay packages for these corporate jackasses, but more mortals are moving into the poverty line. Governments to blame or bankers? They are of the same breed.

PAPpy MPs are now defending policies but not reflecting on the failed investments made by our SWFs. As this turmoil unfolds, get ready to observe more of our Sillyporeans hard earned $$$ go up in smoke as China and India unfolds. Without transparencies, how can we be sure our own internal governance is doing work?

Time will tell. Let's just hope that when our time to retire, there is still CPF monies left.

NBA Lockout due to greed

From one of the best rebounder to ever play the game and also the reason for my nick and blog name - the worm himself commenting on the league lockout.

"Most players don't give a damn about the game," he said. "They want the money and all of a sudden they want unity. I'm not taking the owners' side. I think the players should look at themselves."

Read more. 

In these economic times, every man for himself. So we consumers have no basketball to watch?
Anyway I still think at least NBA players are not as Superstar attitude compared to soccer players. Soccer players salaries are also obscene with "gamblers" paying top notch for EPL and thus the root cause of making consumers pay so much to watch sports..Thank God stupid Singtel took EPL off the hands of Starhub and now we have cheaper NBA TV but damn, barely just a season, now no more NBA because of greed.
But luckily we still have ABL. And this season we have 3 more teams on board (Additional Thai and Philippines teams - San Miguel Beermen and Bangkok Basketball holdings and new Asean country Vietnam entrant Saigon Sports Academy) though Brunei Barrucudas pulled out, making it a 8-team league. Singapore Slingers are still playing and going into the 3rd ABL season since 2009. Well, let's hope they/ESPN broadcast these games given a probable no show from NBA.

Technology Cannibalism

In my earlier post on Steve Job's influence in today's well connect world, we see his wildly popular gadgets slowly killing off many other devices and businesses.

Here's an article talking about the end of digital compact cameras akin to the end of photo developing studios, or CD shops and bookstores. Perhaps one day, everyone will be working for Apple as its shares continue to grow and outstrip Dow Jones.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9890146101/how-smartphones-are-changing-digital-photography

For now I am staying on the dark side - as much as I love to adopt and go with the norm, my mind always sticks to David, and silently cheering on the underdogs or those who support open-source. Like all my political post goes - Transparency at the end of the day, is the only real truth.

Here is more alternative news of late on the dark side of Steve - not everyone thinks he is visionary.

http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/10/06/the-dark-side-of-steve-jobss-dream/
http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2011/10/08/26940-the-other-side-of-steve-jobs-how-he-neutered-the-free-press-/
http://gawker.com/5516149/the-dark-side-of-steve-jobs

Not just the Chinese.

The Chinese are saddened by Job's passing and are displaying bratty characteristics. But I think it's not just isolated to China.
The Daily Illini :: What Jobs’ death means to the Chinese

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iBye Steve

This man brought about change in a world which noone else has done before - in terms of making the world more savvy, more demanding.

I am not an Apple fan, though I have been willing to try. Had 2 Shuffles, thinking it would make good jogging companions, both died at very young age compared to my China made replacement or even the small capacity 1st generation Thomson or Creative MP3 players, which are still working well after over 10 years? But my iPhone 2G is still in existence, perhaps now a valuable antique sitting on my iPhone compatible speaker.

Yes, Steve was not a Green conservationist unlike Sony who led the world on a Green Partner movement, making all their suppliers "Green" friendly. Yes, Steve was more concerned with making things for the masses, so that people can afford made cheap iPhones, iPod players, though many would think otherwise. But seriously think about what you can do with your mobile device, MP3 players or tablet now, and effectively people are buying less handheld gaming devices, compact cameras, GPS, laptops, even CDs etc  - Steve killed PSP, NDS, Netbooks and a slew of other gadgets as well as bookstores and CD shops. He made every other mobile maker especially Nokia to wake the hell up and rethink their own slogan - Human Technology.

Steve also drove the suppliers' margins, making his army of gadgets in China out of factories which drove many employees to commit suicide. His fault? But it is the very same factory that churns out your HP/Dell laptops etc. Why has the price of your technology gadgets never seem to rise despite all the new features? Why does it seem that newer gadgets seem to have shorter shelf lives? Well something has to give in order to cater to our cheap replaceable consumerism attitude of late, which mobile phones are accessories which are changed on a yearly, for some - it is a monthly basis. We've even heard of young kids selling their organs, or prostituting themselves just to pay for the latest iPad.

These cannot be Steve's fault -  it is the evolution of consumers these days, be it gadgets, technological devices, even clothing, shoes etc. It is the high pace life we have chosen to live by, and the importance we have placed on these silly "things". So no blame should come to Steve, because in the end he did make the world a savvier place - people are more connected; musicians are finally paid for easier music downloads, companies are making easier-to-use devices; life somehow seems more innovated with a focus on simplicity and catered to the masses. People are more demanding wanting things to be like Apple gadgets, is the touchscreen as sensitive and nice like the iPad? Is the phone as thin as the iPhone 4? The list goes on.

He made everyone - Think Different.
Now go revolutionize heaven so that mortals can wake up and think different.