Buddha Revisited

Dear bloggie,

Just readed this article.

To summarize the whole article (since I know some MFR as so slacking lazy to even bother reading this long winding article), it entails the findings of a researcher, Batchelor on Gautama Buddha.

His findings seem to break the illusion we all have on Buddha (or rather misconception due to historical manipulation). What do our history books and elder teaching preach to us about Buddha? I for one know this much:

He's a prince of a Kingdom in India. He saw suffering for the first time and got freak by it. He left his kingdom, father, wife and son to seek a mean to avoid this suffering. He meditated under a tree and fasted till one day he achieved enlightenment. He spread his teaching and now his legacy now lives as a religion called Buddhism.

We all probably know or heard before the above tale. Now here's the kicker... What happen after Buddha got his enlightenment? Most of us have the beautiful glass stained illusion that Buddha with his now divine understanding of karma and life, manage to easily convince the people the suffering of their everyday way of life and hence easily spread his religion across the world and lived happily ever after till his end. Now that I think about it, it does sound a bit odd doesn't it?

It seems Buddha happy ever after ending wasn't so happy after all. According to Batchelor,

"In the last 10 months of his life, the Buddha, old and ailing, saw his two main disciples die, one of them brutally murdered, and was forced to flee with a handful of loyalists from all the three political bases he had spent a lifetime building up, until he was possibly poisoned to death by one of his many rivals, leaving a pretender to take over the community after an intense power struggle."

Cut the long story short, Buddha seems to be having problem containing with his supposedly allies, kings of nation that took his religion in and his relatives in his attempt to spread his teachings. He was caught within a web of deception, lie and manipulation which ended with him probably being murder via poison (Buddha was said to suspected something was amidst with the pork (Bah Kut Teh!? I hope tis puts an end to the dispute tat monks can't eat meat which is a f*cking myth) offered to his monks and him, hence he served the pork to himself and other dishes to his disciple monks). Buddha's death also marked the start of a power struggle for the rightful successor spot as an outsider priests tries to claim the religion to obtain control and power.

Funny really, how even the great Buddha himself, the enlighten one can get screwed by a bunch of greedy, selfish, manipulative man...

Checkmatey

Dear bloggie,

Achieved one of my 2010 new year resolution just now...



Finally!!! Managed to hit the 1600 rating in chess.com. Personal best rating for me. Believe me, not an easy task especially when I was just 1-3 points short from my goal, I always make blunders which not only didn't win me any points but lost points. Had a pretty mean streak in Jan, 10-12 matches winning run which propel me into the 1550 bracket. From there on, it's was a teeth to nail battle to win the remaining 50+ points...

The Moon

Dear bloggie,

If I were to equate you
to something, you would be
the moon.

Yes, the moon.
The moon only shines when
there is a sun to reflect.
The moon does not glow with
its own light...

But remember this!
The moon's light is a guidepost
to those that search in
the darkness of the night.
A nice quote from the PS1 game "Chrono Cross" that been haunting my mind lately... I find this quote applies rather nicely to the fact some driftwood are born losers like me... After all, for winners to exists, the existence of losers is necessary.

Anyway, been a jdrama + kdrama addict lately...

Here's a list of dramas I'm currently watching:

• Real Clothes,
  Top of my to watch drama at the moment. This series been called Japanese version of "Devil wear Prada". Story in short is a fashion sense noob chick is forced to learn bout fashion from a fashion icon. Got some philosophical elements which is the main reason why I dig this drama so much.


• Chuno @ Slave Hunter,
  Had to give watchable only to this drama. Story in short, a band of slave hunters are hunting a former general turned slave that is trying to save the emperor's grandson. The weakest link of the story is perhaps the overly huge cast of characters and their lame@$$ complicated relationship with each other. The fight scene however is quite well done. Some really good martial arts and choreography stuff. Also, female might find this series good due to the fact that there is alot of man with 6 packs abs running here and there through the series. I personally think Ennyomon is perhaps the most useless heroin ever. This pretty lass just stands still like a wood while his hero kick the @$$ of his opponent. When his opponent realize they can't win, they start to target her instead which often results in the hero being in a disadvantage. Even Frodo Baggins atleast know to run and hide la...


• Manhattan Fish Market Love Story,
  Just started watching this one. Was expecting another "Shinya Shokudo" but instead got a parody version instead. Rather lame most of the time, but got some part quite funny. Story in short is about the owner of the coffee cafe "Manhattan" and his devotion/obsession to serve the best coffee to his everyday customers. Problem is, most of his customer visit his cafe not for his coffee but rather for love affair activities which pisses the owner off.


• Kindaichi shonen no jikenbo,
  Don't bother watching tis... even if ur a fan of Hajime Kindaichi. Total butchering of Hajime Kindaichi image... Yes got a close room murder setup but the acting, characters & budget is just plain bad.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Dear bloggie,


Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I'm just a poor boy (poor boy), I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go
little high, little low
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me

Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mama, ooo
Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters

It's too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine
Body's aching all the time
Goodbye everybody - I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooo - (anyway the wind blows)
I don't want to die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the fandango?
Thunderbolts and lightning - very very frightening me
Galileo, Galileo,
Galileo, Galileo,
Galileo Figaro - magnifico-o-o-o

I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come easy go - will you let me go
Bismillah! No - we will not let you go - let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let me go
Will not let you go - let me go (never)
Never let you go - let me go
Never let me go - ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no -
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go
Beelzebub has the devil put aside for me
for me
for me
for me

So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?
So you think you can love me and leave me to die?
Oh baby - can't do this to me baby
Just gotta get out - just gotta get right outta here

Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Nothing really matters
Anyone can see
Nothing really mattered - nothing really mattered to me
Anyway the wind blows...
A f*ckin awesome blend of Ballad, Opera, Guitar Solo and Hard Rock...

How to Piss Someone Off

Dear bloggie,

Had this conversation on msn lately...



Quite hilarious, it's actually quite sad really...

Fashion + Philosophy

Dear bloggie,

"If you wear boring clothes, you will have a boring life."

I wonder how true is this statement...

Hyakushiki Zero!!!

Dear bloggie,

I was utterly blown away by the latest stunt Togashi pulled in Hunter X Hunter...

As the rather one sided fight between "The King" (Baddies Boss) Vs Netero nears a conclusion...



Netero's unleashed his super duper top secret ulti killer move... Hyakushiku Zero aka "Buddha's Middle Finger" !!!???

Things looks rather grim for Netero, whom lost a leg, an arm and probably all his nen/aura/chi to do his middle finger stunt in his duel against "The King" (Probably gonna kick the bucket). Looks like there is gonna be a human gangbang attack on "The King" next chapter as even Netero, the strongest human in the series so far, is hardly a match for "The King"...

Mati atas 2 Kaki

Dear bloggie,

Sick of those f*ckin "love u", "miss u" or "gimme a chance" crap u hear on the radio...? Why not try something different by dedicating this song together with a "hate u" note instead...



Death on two legs - Queen

Aah
You suck my blood like a leech
You break the law and you preach
Screw my brain till it hurts
You've taken all my money - and you want more

Misguided old mule
With your pigheaded rules
With your narrow-minded cronies who are fools
Of the first division

Death on two legs
You're tearing me apart
Death on two legs
You never had a heart of your own

Kill joy, bad guy
Big talking, small fry
You're just an old barrow-boy
Have you found a new toy to replace me
Can you face me

But now you can kiss my ass goodbye

Feel good, are you satisfied ?
Do you feel like suicide (I think you should)
Is your conscience all right
Does it plague you at night
Do you feel good - feel good

Aah
Talk like a big business tycoon
But you're just a hot-air balloon
So no one gives you a damn
You're just an overgrown school-boy
Let me tan your hide

A dog with disease
You're the king of the 'sleaze'
Put your money where your mouth is Mr. know all
Was the fin on your back part of the deal...(a shark!)

Death on two legs
Tearing me apart
Death on two legs
You've never had a heart of your own
(You never did, right from the start)

Insane, you should be put inside
You're a sewer-rat decaying in a cesspool of pride
Should be made unemployed
Make yourself null-and-void
Make me feel good
I feel good
Originally indirectly dedicated by Queen to their ex manager that abuse them. So lesson of da day, never pissed of a Rock and Roll band unless u wan a shot at fame on a song like tis one...

Is this the world we created

Dear bloggie,



Is this the world we created - Freddy Mercury & Brian May

Just look at all those hungry mouths we have to feed
Take a look at all the suffering we breed
So many lonely faces scattered all around
Searching for what they need

Is this the world we created?
We made it on our own
Is this the world we invaded
Against the law?
So it seems in the end
Is this what were all living for today?
The world that we created

You know that every day a helpless child is born
Who needs some loving care inside a happy home
Somewhere a wealthy man is sitting on his throne
Waiting for life to go by

Is this the world we created?
We made it on our own
Is this the world we devastated
Right to the bone?
If there's a God in the sky looking down
What can he think of what we done
To the world that he created?

When I first heard this song, I am instantly reminded of John Lennon's "Imagine". Both songs are have a great melody as well as message. Love the sad haunting feel...

Queen will rock you, Queen will rock you...

Dear bloggie,

All together, sing it...



Can you feel the electricity when the crowd chant "We will, we will, Rock you"?

Before Lady Ga Ga came into being...



~Radio Ga Ga,
~Radio Boob Boob,
~Radio Ga Ga,
~All we hear is,
~Radio Ga Ga,
~Radio Bla Bla..

And who can forget this classic from Highlander...



F*ckin awesome starting riff...

Pretender

Dear bloggie,

Looking at the man in the mirror, I ponder upon my many faces... the monk, the nihilist philosopher, the mfr wannabe, the sarcastic sob, the lone ranger, the senile hermit, the underachiever loser, the nobody... And wonder if I'm actually a nothing pretending to be a something...


(HOLY SH*T!!! This is so f*cking retro GAY. God saves us all from this these abominations)

And to wash the disdain aftertaste (if you watched the video above)

Gong Xi Fatt Chai

Dear bloggie,

Year of tiger has finally arrived...

And true to the tradition of mocking these animal of Lunar New Year... I present a bottle of Tiger Beer...



GONG XI FATT CHAI

Pre CNY Emo Quotes

Dear bloggie,

"It was true that I didn’t have much ambition, but there ought to be a place for people without ambition, I mean a better place than the one usually reserved. How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?" - Charles Bukowski, Factotum, Black Sparrow Press, 1975

"I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables—slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war . . . our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." - Fight Club, 1999

"One of the saddest things is that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can't eat eight hours a day nor drink for eight hours a day nor make love for eight hours—all you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy." - William Faulkner, interview in Writers at Work, 1958

"Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do." - Oscar Wilde

"We don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements." - Office Space, 1999

Copy and paste from here

7 Seal Dialog

Dear bloggie,

Holy shit...

[Block goes to confess at a confessional alcove in a church.]
Block: I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel loathing and horror. My indifference to men has shut me out. I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams.
Priest: Yet you do not want to die.
Block: Yes, I do.

[As Block looks away, we see now that the "priest" is actually Death.]
Priest/Death: What are you waiting for?
Block: Knowledge.
Priest/Death: You want a guarantee.
Block: Call it what you will.

[Block kneels as if praying to the figure of Jesus.]
Block: Is it so hard to conceive God with one's senses? Why must He hide in a midst of vague promises and invisible miracles? How are we to believe the believers when we don't believe ourselves? What will become of us who want to believe but cannot? And what of those who neither will nor can believe? Why can I not kill God within me? Why does He go on living in a painful, humiliating way? I want to tear Him out of my heart, but He remains a mocking reality which I cannot get rid of. Do you hear me?
Priest/Death: I hear you.

[Block turns to kneel before the priest behind the confessional screen.]
Block: I want knowledge. Not belief. Not surmise. But knowledge. I want God to put out His hand, show His face, speak to me.
Priest/Death: But He is silent.
Block: I cry to Him in the dark, but there seems to be no one there.
Priest/Death: Perhaps there is no one there.
Block: Then life is a senseless terror. No man can live with Death and know that everything is nothing.
Priest/Death: Most people think neither of Death nor nothingness.
Block: Until they stand on the edge of life and see the Darkness.
Priest/Death: Ah, that day.
Block: [laughs bitterly] I see. We must make an idol of our fear, and call it God.
Priest/Death: You are uneasy.
Block: Death visited me this morning. We are playing chess. This respite enables me to perform a vital errand.
Priest/Death: What errand?
Block: My whole life has been a meaningless search. I say it without bitterness or self-reproach. I know it is the same for all. But I want to use my respite for one significant action.
Priest/Death: So you play chess with Death?
Block: He is a skillful tactician, [smiling] but I have not yet lost one piece.
Priest/Death: How can you outwit Death?
Block: [smiling] By a combination of bishop and knight. I will break his flank.

[The "priest" turns to face Block through the screen.]
Priest/Death: I shall remember that.

[Block stands up, startled.]
Block: Traitor! You have tricked me! But I'll find a way out.

A rather long dialog from "Seventh Seal"...

Honeymoon year almost up

Dear bloggie,

Another 2 1/2 more months, my 1 year will be up... Already mentally preparing myself to return to the rat race. Quite sure I will meet up with my old pals again, ie: stress, depression, etc.

I have dreaded this since the first day I gain freedom but who am I to defy the rule of this society? Sometimes I hate it when time flies especially when your enjoying urself... Damn sux... Blame it on "Theory of Relativity".

I had initially hoped to have the chance to try a possible career change, but atlast... Fear and laziness... I really wanted to try it out but I guess somethings are just never meant to happen.

MID LIFE KRYSIS

Dear bloggie,

All I want to do is rock

Dear bloggie,

Suddenly when I hear tis song, I feel like going into MFR mode...

Before SPM - 4

Dear bloggie,

CNY is just around the corner. It's often that at this time of the year, you will bum into old friends or classmates shopping for CNY. I recently saw an old classmate of mine from High School last Saturday. I was shopping for CNY clothes with my other two disciple monks when I saw Forajman aka Charlie.

Ok, to comprehend and appreciate why this dude is nicknamed Forajman, one has to transcend time and get to know Charlie... So I think I will start this tale with...

11 years ago,

There was a dude name Charlie that was one of citizens of the High School Klang rejects, the legendary 5N class. Charlie LOVED books. Anywhere you see him, you will most likely see him holding a book close to his chest... Some speculate he was a fetish for books, while other say he's the product of the "Read 1,000 over you will remember it, If can't reread it another 1,000" teaching. I however choose to believe that hidden within the pages of these book are porn pictures. Either that or picture of book without their covers.

Often (+80% times), the only chat topic you can and will end up having with Charlie is "Study" topic. Suffice to say he tend to be ignored (sometimes bullied) even by the reject community of 5N including me. Believe me when I said I tried to be nice to him but having hear him talk every f*ckin day on "Study" topic is just plain f*ckin annoying. I however draw the line at bully cause Charlie is in the heavy weight class, equal or greater to Acapan body size. A clothesline from him and I can end up at the hospital for a week. However as they often say "Giant people are often soft" (Not sure if this applies to Acapan though), hence he is often the victim of pranks from the community of 5N. The funniest prank I remembered was when TC went and caress his beard. I recall Charlie actually getting upset almost like angry but TC being the nutcase daredevil he is, continues to caress his beard.

Moving back to how Charlie earned his nick, it happened in a typical "Sains Pertanian" class. Our class teacher was going on and on about the types of feed for animals. After a god damn grandmother story on these feeds, the teacher gave a short time out and asked if anyone had any question. Most of us, being the slackers and rejects we were had none. Charlie however shot up his hand and asked one. I wasn't paying any attention to his question but I thought I heard the word "Faraj" in his question. I thought I had misheard but when the teacher said "Bukan Faraj, Foraj"... The whole class broke into laughter. Ok, a simple explanation for those that not "Sains Pertanian", Foraj is a Malay word for artificially grown grass feed for cows. Dun ask me why it's call Foraj which sounds like Faraj coz I ain't the nutcase that created this word. So it seems, Charlie mistaken the pronunciation of Foraj with Faraj and even asked the teacher a question on it (If you dunno wtf is a Faraj then go google it). Hence since then, we fondly nicknamed him Forajman for this feat...

Traveling back to the present minus 2 days, I saw Forajman at Jusco Bukit Raja shopping for a new clothes. He didn't really recognize me since my face aged so drastically already and not to mention my balding spot. Since I wanted to avoid another useless conversation on "How are you now? What are you working as? Married?" or worst "Study" topic, I didn't greet him. Suke and Spelly however being the more holy than thou monk went to greet him but Forajman went into the fitting room so they didn't get to greet him.

I wonder what kind of atmosphere would transpired had I greeted him with "Hey Forajman, how's ur Faraj, Ergh... I mean Foraj doing nowdays...?" Would we both be laughing at that silly moment in the past? Would I have an pissed off and angry giant infront of me? Would I be ignored? If only I was as senile as I was 11 years ago to find out...

Moonlight

Dear bloggie,

Tsukiakari by Rie Fu,



The ending song for "Darker Than Black" anime. Quite an old anime I stop watching 1/2 way that I recently taken up again. Think "Heroes", without all those stupid crappy side stories and annoying characters.

Into the rabbit hole

Dear bloggie,

How does it feel free falling into a rabbit so deep that you wondered if the hole goes on infinitely...? People think such thing is impossible, so let me pose a question to these people... Are we our self infinite? How long is our time? 40? 50? 60 years? Truth is it doesn't matter if the hole is infinite or not... What matters is if the hole is deep enough that when compared relatively, it would be infinite to us.

I obviously need to find a new hobby ASAP before my soul breakdowns... GYM is fun, but it's only at most 3-6 hours a week. Rest of the time, it feels like my soul is rotting away...