Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The eyes with which we choose to see

In today's My Paper, there was this article by Leow Ju-len titled "You're vain, self-absorbed and shallow".

There wasn't very much to the article, except for the following statement which caught my attention:

"What makes Singapore girls so hot and Singapore guys so not, then? Nothing more than the eyes with which we choose to see."

Isn't this something that's so true was some many aspect of our lives?

What makes a guy hot? His face? His muscular body? His charm? The big car he drives?

What makes a person successful? His career? His year income? His reputation? His inner well-being?

What makes beauty? What makes happiness?

Nothing more than the eyes with which we choose to see.

Confessions

I read with great amusement the article "Confessions of a Trophy Boyfriend" on Trevvy.

The writer stipulates that a "Trophy Boyfriend" must have the following attributes:

- Picture-perfect features. Think Orlando Bloom, or Takeshi Kaneshiro
- Height. Only 1.7 and above need apply.
- A toned set of pecs, biceps, triceps and other assorted muscle groups. Abs are essential.
- Youth.
- A big dong.
How did he know that? Well, he confessed to being one.

Hmm.... Not very subtle I must say. I don't know the writer so I shall take his words at face value -- no, I'm not interested to verify if he indeed is all of the above.

And oh, by the way, I have a confession to make myself.

I must confess that I am a ...

Monday, July 14, 2008

Are you eating animal carcass?

I saw on yesterday's The Sunday Times, a recipe that called for the use of a "chicken carcass"

At first I thought it was a mistake, but it occurred more than once in the text, so it's not.

I checked up the meaning of this word. I guess in this case, it means "the body of a slaughtered animal after removal of the offal."

But this is not the most commonly used meaning of this word. In fact, the Longman Contemporary English dictionary I have did not have this entry. The listed meaning was "the dead body of an animal".

Actually, that's what meat really is: the dead body of an animal. Most people, however, refuse to recognize that. I think most people would find it revolting to think of eating meat as eating a carcass.

This is most commonly observed among the Westerners. They have no problem with fish fillets but find whole fish with their heads and eyes intact revolting. They have no problem with chicken parts or nuggets, but find whole slaughtered chicken with the head still attached revolting.

Most of the time, the meat people eat are "sanitized", cut into pieces or processed into something else, that distanced the link between the meat and the animal.

If people would recognized that the meat is really the dead body of a living animal, perhaps they would be less inclined to it.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

断肠人在天涯

枯藤老树昏鸦,
小桥流水人家,
古道西风瘦马。
夕阳西下,
断肠人在天涯。


-- 《天净沙 · 秋思》 马致远(元)

独自旅行的滋味

便纵有,千种风情,更与何人说?

--《雨霖铃》 柳永(北宋)