Under Water

What is it like living underwater? I am not talking about being in a capsule or a dome being secured with air to breath under water like a lost city submerged. I am thinking about possessing a breathing system that could work with air and water. Kevin’s mutant character in the movie Waterworld would best describe what I mean. Imagine having a set of gills so that you can breathe in water and a nose to breath air. The capability to live in both widens your options. What’s it like living in the water? Do you think we’ll having a blast like Sponge Bob and the gang? Hik hik hik. I reckon that life would be easier. At least we don’t worry too much about Tsunami or the tidals going up a couple of millimetres or big flood. Water covers almost 70% of the earth. Talking about solving population explosion.

Auckland's Landmark

Sky Tower is such a landmark in the central city of Auckland. It serves as a reference point. It’s like an Eiffel Tower in which it helps you get back to your bearings by just looking up and turning around to check the glance of the tallest structure. The map is surely handy but you don’t want anyone seeing you bringing one which publicises your ignorance to the place. It takes a while to familiarise with the whereabouts and to get rid of your dependence on guidance. But no matter what your situation is, Sky Tower remains the main landmark of Auckland.

Media Training

A few weeks ago, I went through a Media Training. The council thought that I got to undergo such training in order to prepare me for what might set me on the difficult spot. As a council staff who got to be on the field, I can be subject to the brutal unsolicited, inescapable and uncomfortable interrogation. “Don’t worry about the question,” mentioned the trainer. “Worry about your answer.” My first reaction is “phew” I told myself that as long as I am true to myself and I am not doing anything wrong and I have nothing to hide, I should not worry about my answer. As the training progressed I found myself putting my money where my mouth is. Being true and not hiding anything is obviously the least of my worry but how the media turns your answer around is what I should keep an eye on. There is such thing as fishing for dirt, putting words to my mouth and hitting my vulnerability. “This is how media works most of the time,” trainer from the public relations commented. This training is very useful and I think this should not be put in a package for media correspondence alone but in a wider package of socializing with people of all walks of life. I used to know people and I am sure that I will encounter more people who have nothing to do with media but take the business of being nosy. I knew people who make the opportunity in a gathering such as lunch breaks and dinner parties to fish for valuable comments that they can twist and can use against the prey. If they can not fish for controversy they will make one by putting words to the prey’s mouth. I know people who play this sinister business and I know that I am in the DANGER ZONE when I am in the same zone with these guys. I got to avoid them. You can’t imagine what they can do to your reputation. These people does not mind how serious the outcome of their back slashing whether it affects livelihood or serious illness. They just wash their hands and act as if they know nothing. Tsk tsk. Like the media, they consider it as playing politics and that this is just a job. Yeah right. I have no time for them. I will just exert my effort to cultivate good relationships with my loved ones and friends who know and believe who I really am and who know and believe how I treasure them.

Michael Jackson's Moonwalk

Many have said that the extraordinary performance of Michael Jackson on the 25th Anniversary of Motown in 1983 started it all. All the moves he executed in that concert became his signature. He started a trend and everyone copied his getups and moves. The audience were flabbergasted when MJ executed the Moonwalk which proved that they were just seeing the moves for the first time.




It may be true that was the first time the audience of the Motown Concert saw MJ’s moonwalk. Some people say that MJ invented that dance step. He may be known as the Superstar who moonwalks but I am sure that he did not claim the steps as his own. I am not sure if it was already named as Moonwalk then but the step has been done since the 40’s.

Sleeping Dogs Lie

Many agree that in order to keep relationship strong, steady and long lasting they should be honest with each other. This is not always true. Sometimes, best kept secret should be best kept in order to preserve relationships. There are instances that people can’t handle the truth. Revelations may serve as haunting and that makes the relationship cracks and eventually caves in. Testing faithfulness by opening your dirty closet may not be a good idea all the time. You may ask yourself first “Is the testing worth it?” You may say if he is not alright with your unpleasant past then he is not meant for you after all. Yet you might have an unpleasant past which was just one take off and can never happen again. Digging a one-time madness and reveal to loved one may not be worth it. For one thing, relationship is an on-going build up based on constant and present cultivation of affections not based on the past. Everything may be explained much clearer by the film Sleeping Dogs Lie. Amy lost her fiancée when she was persuaded to reveal her icky encounter in the past. She apparently learned her lesson. Her next boyfriend did not know anything about her one-take yuckiness in the past which preserved their relationship.

LOUVRE

The other night, Da Vinci Code was shown in TV2. I did not watch the whole film that night for the reason that I have read and watched it for how many times. But I got to watch the first minutes of the Louvre Scene. I was not in it for the indulgence of the gruesome murder of Jacques Sauniere or the clues within the Da Vinci’s paintings but the gratification on bringing reminiscences on my fantastic journey inside the Louvre. There are so many remarkable places in Paris. Louvre is definitely one of them. The Louvre, the palace full of famous artworks is so huge that it will take the whole day touring inside. One of the main attractions was the famous Mona Lisa. I was advised to go straight to where Mona Lisa Painting was before I ran out of time seeing it. And so that was the plan. There were arrow signs pointing to where Mona Lisa was and that made the whole endeavor much easier. But it was not as easy as I thought it would be when I kept on being held back by other enticing artworks on the way. As much as I wanted to hurry up, the haunting and mesmerizing artworks seemed like moving and speaking to me to just be still and to absorb them. But I needed to be strong and to stay focus for the sake of the one-in-a-million smile. I got to see Mona Lisa. And Lo and behold……Click! Of course I took pictures like the other visitors did. On my way out, I tried to consume as much artworks as I could the rest of the Louvre time. I may not know most of the names of the masterpieces, I may not have a good idea how most of them became famous, I may not be a huge fan, but the tour inside the Louvre would just forget who you are or where you are coming from for few hours as you are consumed by the wonderful works inside the Louvre.

GeoCities

Before I was introduced to Blogger, Multiply, Facebook, Friendster, LiveJournal, there was GeoCities which I used to compile all of my memorable stories and pictures. Now, GeoCities has emailed me saying that they’re gonna shot down the site and no one will be able to visit them again. There are suggestions on how to retrieve them so that I would maybe transfer them another site. But I think it will never be the same. I mean, there were pictures there being published on the same months they were taken and it will not be the same when you have to publish them again as some sort of a part of a personal history. I may be so overdramatic here. But GeoCities has served me very well in compiling them that is why I haven’t given up its service. Now that they are saying “bye-bye” there’s nothing I can do but to pull them out. But first I would like to have the last visit of the site. Come join me:

http://www.geocities.com/jonsaint2002/jonsaintfamily.html