C U @ MaqC's

Lessons I am taking in… with a pinch if salt --- Hidden attributes Versus External Success

2006-10-09T15:08:00.000+03:00

For me the most valuable things in life are no longer to be measured in monetary terms. Its dawning again and again, in fresh and really powerful insights that the really important things are not fame & fortune, houses & lands, stocks & bonds, automobiles & real state, prestige & extravagant lifestyles… but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love, faith, personal growth and development, and being happy that God is happy with me. Its OK to lose any of the former – after all a lifetime cannot be so short not to bounce back and make more at some point; But loosing and tampering with the hidden attributes, that is almost like suicide.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. [Galatians 5:23, 24] … U tell me, aren’t these the real stuff that actually count… These virtues are actually their own reward.

Lessons I am taking in… with a pinch of salt ---- Contentment

2006-10-09T15:07:00.000+03:00

Twas St. Paul, the most amazing convert of all-time that said in a letter to one of his Churches in Phillipino, that he had procured a pearl of great price, at the expense of thousands of desires… well maybe not in those exact words but you get the point - Contentment. I particularly like how he phrased it… I have learnt to abound and to abase… I have learnt in whatever state I am, therewith to be content. I tell you, that is the greatest blessing one can enjoy in life…

I guess it’s just not that easy… I choose to define true contentment as the power of getting out of any situation with all that there is in it. It is hard and it is rare. I think we often miss the point. Being content in a situation is not being unable to move from it and resigning to living in it (like a turtle in its own shell); No-No; true contentment is appreciating all there is in such a position. As one British Essayist and Critic, Charles Lamb once put it: My motto is Contended with little, yet wishing for more.

Lessons I am taking in…. with a pinch of salt ---- Blame

2006-10-09T15:06:00.000+03:00

All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault I find with another, and regardless of how much I blame them, it will not change me. Much as the search for someone to blame always yields fruit, the only thing blame does is to keep the focus off me when I am looking for external reasons to explain my unhappiness or frustration. I may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but I won't succeed in changing whatever it is about me that is making me unhappy.

And equally important for me is that I am working on stopping to blame myself. To find fault with what, or how I am doing is not the point for me, what is, and so much harder at that, is to do better. When I plant lettuce, for instance, and if it does not grow well, I don't blame that lettuce. I look into the reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. I never blame the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If I understand, and I show that I understand, I can love, and the situation will change. I pray that instead of winding and grinding, going on and on about how I shoulda, coulda, woulda, cursing the darkness that still abound (maybe even as a result of decisions that I may have made) I’ll endeavour to light just a small candle.

And finally I’m also being taught by life that Ill have great tranquillity of heart if I cared neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men.

Life Cycle

2006-08-28T11:05:00.000+03:00

Doesn't everything's life-cycle seem so similar to that of kawaida seasons? Summer, Spring, Winter, Autumn. More on this later...

People Come into your Life for A....

2006-08-02T09:52:00.000+03:00

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season!

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Against The Storm

2006-07-28T08:32:00.009+03:00

What follows is the outcome of a little poetic inspiration and word-play.

Against The Grain

Sometime back, I felt like I was going against my way
Lying to myself day by day
Constantly standing against my grain
Causing frustration and emotional pain
Hiding what I knew is mine to express
Closing off my opinion and settling for less

But I would't and didn't back down, not that I don't plan to change
I've always been this character with diversity and variety of range
Rife with contradictions and composed mostly of flaws
I couldn't admit I'm doing wrong when I break unwritten laws
Barred within a world of restrictions, I felt I'd lost my voice
My creative enerfy went unchanneled and nothing was ever my choice

I longed for intellectual freedom and sometimes felt alone in my quest
To be judged by the validity of what I suggest
And forced only to exceed my best

How great to live in a world where self-discovery is what we teach
And the only thing insanely defined are the opinions held by each
But instead we feel like we are told and act on each others' visions
Refusing to change what's wrong by abiding by their decisions

I regret how I've communicated what I want, but won't regret my desires
I refuse to restrict myself from from the fueling of creative fires
We live in fear of our own opinions for chance that they might stun
Enforcing our own freedom of speech is easier said than done

I strongly support our priviledge to have a voice in everything that we do
But resent that higher powers allow it only as an edited impersonal view
So don't mention the word censorship, in my vocabulary it does not exist
But its consequence infects the world as the mindless bans persist

I wont waste my time pondering with hope for a brighter day
I'm headed for the future armed with convictions to lead the way
This may seem a tad prententious, and you may detect my pride
But a view is something golden that i'm not afraid to hide

C U @ MaqC's for another inspired poetic episode.

Air Burgers

2006-07-24T12:33:00.000+03:00

Im hungry and I'm having hearty air burgers, without complaints. Some students who've stepped in the office to work on something, comment that I look blue today - So perhaps I should organise for a complete color makeover.

Think Outside The Box

2006-07-24T12:08:00.000+03:00

Imagine this... You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night. It's raining heavily when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for a bus:

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing very well that there could only be one passenger in your car?

Think before you continue reading... This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application.

You could pick up the old lady because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first; or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again. The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer.

Guess what his answer was?

He simply answered: "I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams."

Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. Never forget to "Think Outside of the Box."

On Values

2006-07-24T08:20:00.000+03:00

On values, there is a myriad of possible approaches to this topic... Universal Values, Personal Vs Communal Values, Values and God, Values and Dating/Marriage/Friendship, Workplace Values, Growth in Values, etc...But I'd rather, I reckon, generalise those attributes that I consider are part of life, and deserve a closer look every so often.

Appreciation, Ambition, Belief, Care (genuine), Character, Commitment, Common ground, Compassion, Courtesy, Courage, Dependability, Dedication, Diversity, Doing the right thing, Effort, Epathy, Excellence, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace, Gratitude, Hard work, Helping others, Honesty, Humility, Integrity, Including others, Learning, Listening, Living your dreams, Loyalty, Opportunity, Optimism, Persistence, Perseverance, Respect, Responsibility, Right Choices, Sacrifice, Self-Esteem, Service, Sharing, Soul, Strength, Teaching by Example, Trust, Unity, Vision, Zeal, and perhaps others that I haven't mentioned.

But some part of the Holy book singles out three and says that when all is said and done, three will remain. Hope, Faith and Love....

I consider Love to be the chief amongst the three. And I look at Love, Hope and Faith as the first three amongst all the above 'other equals.' And I know that they don't stand alone, they are just but components and supplements of the others, especially of Patience.

Patience with others is Love, Patience with self is Hope, Patience with God is Faith

Hence why the PBPWMGINTWMY - "Please Be Patient With Me, God Is Not Through With Me Yet" still stands as one of the greatest 'values' to exercise towards me, yourself and others.

C U @ MaqC's laterz.

Just for Gigs

2006-07-23T14:46:00.000+03:00

Did you think ex prezo has been a bored man thru his retirement years ? Well , think again !!!
Our own local Papaarazzi caught up with him on different spots ....having the time of his lyfe......Enjoy !!!!!!

In Texas , Dallas / US .....Rodeo show ...(He got 3rd Prize)

In a tournament in Helsinki, Finland . ....he scooped second prize ...........

And finally...............
At Kaloleni Hall -Mursik Power (Ololoo ) .......1St prize.....

Personality Test

2006-07-23T14:03:00.000+03:00

This is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept. at many of the major corporations today. It helps them get better insight concerning their employees and prospective employees. It's only 10 simple questions, so...... My answers are in Red

When do you feel your best?
a) in the morning
b) during the afternoon and early evening
c) late at night

You usually walk...
a) fairly fast, with long steps
b) fairly fast, with little steps
c) less fast head up, looking the world in the face
d) less fast, head down
e) very slowly

When talking to people you...
a) stand with your arms folded
b) have your hands clasped
c) have one or both your hands on your hips
d) touch or push the person to whom you are talking
e) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your hair

When relaxing, you sit with...
a) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side
b) your legs crossed
c) your legs stretched out or straight
d) one leg curled under you

When something really amuses you, you react with...
a) a big, appreciative laugh
b) a laugh, but not a loud one
c) a quiet chuckle
d) a sheepish smile

When you go to a party or social gathering you...
a) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
b) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone you know
c) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed

You're working very hard, concentrating hard, and you're interrupted, do you...
a) welcome the break
b) feel extremely irritated
c) vary between these two extremes

Which of the following colors do you like most?
a) Red or orange
b) black
c) yellow or light blue
d) green
e) dark blue or purple
f) white
g) brown or gray

When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments before going to sleep, you lie...
a) stretched out on your back
b) stretched out face down on your stomach
c) on your side, slightly curled
d) with your head on one arm
e) with your head under the covers

You often dream that you are...
a) falling
b) fighting or struggling
c) searching for something or somebody
d) flying or floating
e) you usually have dreamless sleep
f) your dreams are always pleasant

POINTS:
1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6
2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e)
3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6
4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1
5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e)
6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2
7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 1
8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1
9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) 1
10. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1

Now add up the total number of points.

Interesting thing is I have two sets of points. 40 and 46. That puts me oscillating somewhere in either categories three or four.

Category One

OVER 60 POINTS: Others see you as someone they should "handle with care". You're seen as vain, self-centred, and who is extremely dominant. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don't always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.

Category Two

51 TO 60 POINTS: Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality; a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate.

Category Three

41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the centre of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

Category Four

31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.

Category Five

21 TO 30 POINTS: Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It would really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then, usually decide against it. They think this reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.

Category Six

UNDER 21 POINTS: People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who always wants someone else to make the decisions & who doesn't want to get involved with anyone or anything. They see you as a worrier who always sees problems that don't exist. Some people think you're boring. Only those who know you well know that you aren't.

Just don't know exactly how these personality tests are tabulated and analysed, but they reveal a fair share of one's personality. Besides what they suggest nonetheless, lies an entirely different, sometimes concealed persona. And as it is with the growth process of different specie, there are at times no correlation between the egg stage, the larvae stage, the pupae stage, and the adult stage. So if next time the same test reveals Category one or six, or any other in between to be the dominant one in me, I'll be easy right here @ MaqC's.

Lessons 2006

2006-07-23T13:56:00.000+03:00

I'm learning....that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.

I'm learning....that money doesn't buy class! that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.

I'm learning....that under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.

I'm learning....that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?

I'm learning....that to ignore the facts does not change the facts.

I'm learning....that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.

I'm learning....that its love, not time, heals all wounds.

I'm learning....that the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.

I'm learning....that at times you need a change, even from what you think not deserving a change

I'm learning....that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.

I'm learning....that no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.

I'm learning....that life is tough, but I'm tougher.

I'm learning....that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.

I'm learning....that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

I'm learning....that I wish I could have told my GraMa that I love her one more time before she passed on.

I'm learning....that one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.

I'm learning....that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

I'm learning....that I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.

I'm learning....that when I was newly born and I held my mum's little finger in my little fist, we were then hooked for life, and it would remain like that, whether or not I like it.

I'm learning....that, come to think of it, she (my mum) has is the one living person who has been my greatest source of hope and inspiration - whether as a broken sparrow, or a flying eagle.

I'm learning....that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it. And that's why, I'd rather not just land there quick, fast, cheap, and easy.

I'm learning....that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances; when it is requested and when it is a life threatening situation.

I'm learning....that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

I'm learning....that I will keep learning till I learn all I need to learn, which is not sometime soon.

Will We Always Have In Our Midst... The Poor and The Illiterate?

2006-07-17T12:59:00.000+03:00

Just why do these siamese twins called "poverty and illiteracy" keep raring their ugly heads on the human race, even people we know and care for quite a deal?

Why are our people ravaged by these calamities, and what are the dynamics behind them?

Who will do what and why? When? Where? How?

C U @ MaqC's when u got the way forward...

Graham Hancock's Lords of Poverty

2006-07-17T12:14:00.000+03:00

I finally read a non-partisan book which shared a lot of my sentiments and impressions on the Business of Poverty, and by extension illiteracy. The book is aptly titled "Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business" and it's authored by british sociologist and best-selling author, Graham Hancock. I just don’t know how dated his dark assessment of the big picture is (I mean it was published in 1992, quite a lot would have changed for the better or worse since then), but this is an important book in that it raises some serious questions about how humanitarian assistance (the Aid Industry/ International Aid Business) is provided, how effective it is, and what systemic problems need(ed) to be addressed.

This book puts foreign aid of various types under close scrutiny, and is well documented with over 700 footnote references. Not even Non-Government Organizations are completely altruistic in every case. There are rivalries between them, and some of them give religious conversion priority over aid. The United Nations is plagued within by empire-building, and many of its staff members are more concerned about their personal benefits than the job they should be doing. In the World Bank, promotion is based on the amount of money spent, resulting in an emphasis on big projects. Most people consider foreign aid to be a "sacred cow", above criticism. After examining it closely, one wonders whether it might be better to stop it altogether.

Hancock asserts that, no matter where it is directed, such aid is "inherently bad" -- and almost invariably has damaged both those it is supposed to help and those (taxpayers) who eventually must pay for it. According to Graham Hancock's Lords of Poverty, virtually all government-sponsored aid to underdeveloped nations has been disastrous. Indeed, he recites a litany of abuse and incompetence in the administration of international aid by the United Nations, the World Bank, and other organizations engaged in "humanitarian" pursuits that would more than fill the space available here. Suffice it to say that much of the aid provided through international organizations has gone not to those for whom it was supposedly intended, but rather to enlarge the fortunes of the aid bureaucrats themselves -- or to entrench Third World governments that have little or no interest in promoting the commonweal of those they govern. Where aid actually reached its intended destination, it usually was wasted on projects that did nothing to contribute toward (indeed, stunted) economic development.

In Hancock's somewhat ponderous prose:
"[A)t every level in the structure of almost all our most important aid-giving organisations, we have installed a tribe of highly paid men and women who are irredeemably out of touch with the day-to-day realities of the ... underdevelopment which they are supposed to be working to alleviate. The over-compensated aid bureaucrats demand -- and get -- a standard of living often far better than that which they could aspire to if they were working, for example, in industry or commerce in the home countries. At the same time, however, their achievements and performance are in no way subjected to the same exacting and competitive processes of evaluation that are considered normal in business. Precisely because their professional field is 'humanitarianism' rather than, say, 'sales', or 'production' or 'engineering', they are rarely required to demonstrate and validate their worth in quantitative, measurable ways. Surrounding themselves with the mystifying jargon of their trade, these lords of poverty are the druids of the modern era wielding enormous power that is accountable to no one." [pp.32-33]

It Hasn't Worked in the Third WorldHancock observes that "the ugly reality is that most poor people in most poor countries most of the time never receive or even make contact with aid in any tangible shape or form: whether it is present or absent, increased or decreased, are thus issues that are simply irrelevant to the ways is which they conduct their daily lives. After the multi-billion-dollar 'financial flows' involved have been shaken through the sieve of overpriced and irrelevant goods that must be bought in the donor countries, filtered again in the deep pockets of hundreds of thousands of foreign experts and aid agency staff, skimmed off by dishonest commission agents, and stolen by corrupt Ministers and Presidents, there is really very little left to go around. This little, furthermore, is then used thoughtlessly, or maliciously, or irresponsibly by those in power -- who have no mandate from the poor, who do not consult with them and who are utterly indifferent to their fate." [p.190] "Aid is not bad, however, because it is sometimes misused, corrupt, or crass; rather, it is inherently bad, bad to the bone, and utterly beyond reform. As a welfare dole to buy the repulsive loyalty of whining, idle and malevolent governments, or as a hidden, inefficient and inadequately regulated subsidy for Western business, it is possibly the most formidable obstacle to the productive endeavors of the poor. It is also a denial of their potential, and a patronising insult to their unique, unrecognised abilities." [p.183] "To continue with the charade seems to me to be absurd. Garnered and justified in the name of the destitute and the vulnerable, aid's main function in the past half-century has been to create and then entrench a powerful new class of rich and privileged people. ...At the same time ... it has allowed governments characterised by historic ignorance, avarice and irresponsibility to thrive; last but not least, it has condoned and in some cases facilitated -- the most consistent and grievous abuses of human rights that have occurred anywhere in the world since the dark ages." [pp. 192-3]

I could go on and on and on about the reality this book addresses - or atleast points our attention to!

"Lords of Poverty" is a transformer of thoughts, and intents. I only pray that Graham hasn't been assissinated by the said Lords...

C U L8erz @ MaqC's for more of such .... reviews, w'aeva!

Im Bored - Rather, not quite sure if I am

2006-07-17T09:51:00.000+03:00

A friend of mine was bored recently and he was going on and on with wat went down a lil' somethin lyk this...

"My parents often ask me what I would like to do when I grow up.
I honestly don't know what fits my requirements.
I don't like being bossed around.
I don't like doing office work.
I don't like being inside for hours at a time.
I want to dress the way I wanna dress.
I wanna be able to listen to loud Rock while I'm working. (Music helps me concentrate, the louder the better.)
I wanna be able to exercise my creativity somehow.
I wanna hang around unique people.
I don't wanna bother much with computers.

I kinda like the idea of being an entertainer of some kind. Musician most of all, but yaicks, the only instrument I can play is the harmonica, (w'eva that is) and how often is harmonica used today? I can act decently. Perhaps I'll take a shot at being a TV star of some kind? Or a comic-book creator/writer?

Really, I just want to be famous because I have various messages to get out into the public. But to spread these messages, I have to be recognized somehow. People will listen if you make a big splash.

2Hell with money, 2Hell with bazillion-dollar mansions, 2Hell with servants and foreign cars and solid gold toilets.

I've got more important things to worry about nyan! I don't want to TAKE from people; I want to give and share with people.There's this fantasy I've always had about being the next big time author. Making a big statement with my essays and bizarre sense of humor. But nobody reads these days (which pisses me off all the more). Perhaps I could give it a shot anyway.

I want to be noticed by other people, and I want to make a great difference for the good of all humanity. That's my life's mission. I want the world to know that it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate (to quote the earliest lullaby I ever heard... Ozzy's Crazy Train XD).

I want to serve as an example of what's good and right with the world, instead of being a suburbanite dude with 2.5 kids strapped into the point of suffocation in an SUV, or being a greedy and prissy celebrity.

I don't think college and degrees and shit are all that important to what I wanna do. Maybe if I wanted to be a politician, but I don't. 2Hell with politicians. They have good intentions (a few of them), but they always end up corrupt and power-hungry. I wanna help return power to the people, rather than the most incompetent and dishonest among us. Do I even have a place in the world with my dreams, or am I a strange visitor from the past with no memories of that bygone age?"

It came from a 17 year old great pal of mine. This is what I'm recalling now.... I dunno why... could it be??

Let's Just Say...

2006-07-14T08:27:00.000+03:00

Wat fallows is sum heaffy mushy stuff-but i ain't gat nathin but lav 4 all ma dawgs. It tuk guts 4 me 2 do it, but hey, I've dan my bit...

Read Slowly...

Have you ever wondered which hurts the most? Saying something and wishing you hadn't? or Saying nothing and wishing you had? I guess the most important things are the hardest things to say. Don't be afraid to tell someone you love them. If you do, they might break your heart...if you don't, you might break theirs.

Have u ever decided not to become a couple because you were so afraid of losing what you already had with that person? Your heart decides whom it likes and whom it doesn't. You can't tell your heart what to do. It does it on its own.... when you least suspect it, or even when you don't want it to.

Have you ever wanted to love someone with everything you had, but that other person was too afraid to let you? Too many of us stay walled up because we are too afraid to care too much...for fear that the other person does not care as much, or even at all.

Have you ever denied your feelings for someone because your fear of rejection was too hard to handle? We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing we fear grows stronger.

Life is all about risks and it requires you to jump. Don't be a person who has to look back and wonder what they would have done, or could have had.

What would you do if every time you fell in love you had to say good-bye?

What would you do if every time you wanted someone they would never be there?

What would you do if your best friend died tomorrow and you never got to tell them how you felt? (even if it is that you don't care anymore)

What would you do if you loved someone more than ever and you couldn't have them?

What would you do if you never got the chance to say I am friends with all of my family and they know I love them?

SELAH

So, the Origin of Dance is as follows

2006-07-13T10:05:00.000+03:00

And you thought I can't dance??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg&eurl

Spooky Spam this is: Q33 NY

2006-07-12T10:33:00.000+03:00

THE LAST PART IS EVEN MORE INTERESTING........

New York City has 11 letters
Afghanistan has 11 letters.
Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters.
George W Bush has 11 letters.

This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting:

New York is the 11th state.
The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11.
Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11
Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers, was carrying 65 passengers. 6+5 = 11
The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 +1+ 1 = 11
The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number 911. 9 + 1 + 1 = 11.

Sheer coincidence..?! Read on and make up your own mind:

The total number of victims inside all the hi-jacked planes was 254.2 + 5 + 4 = 11
September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year. Again 2 + 5 + 4 = 11
The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 +1 + 2 + 4 = 11.
The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers incident.

Now this is where things get totally eerie:

The most recognized symbol for the US, after the Stars & Stripes, is the Eagle.
The following verse is taken from the Quran, the Islamicholy book:
"For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle.The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace."
That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran.

Still unconvinced about all of this..?!

Try this and see how you feel afterwards, it made my hair stand on end:

Open Microsoft Word and do the following:
1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.
2. Highlight the Q33 NY.
3. Change the font size to 48.
4. Change the actual font to WINGDINGS

What do you think now..?! HollySlamolla: What's this reckless Hell all about?

Let's C U @ MaqC's baadayez..... There'll be less (read maybe less) of this shpookiness----May you live in interesting times!

I Reckon ... Part One

2006-07-08T12:16:00.000+03:00

Even maintaining a blog - being a constant blogger will take dedication, and commitment the same as would be required by a wife.... So, I reckon, and urge, he who cares to listen, "Just refuse to be involved in an experiment that reduces you to being a mere tool in another person's agenda!"

I'm afraid that there's not a thickness of a sheet of paper between "Cowardice" and "Heroism." Think about it, may be cowards and hero's are just ordinary men, who for a split second do something out of the ordinary. And even further, I wonder whether it's all about cowardice and courage, or is there a twist towards honour? i tell you, I'm by all means in the midst of a lot of personal non-sensical thought-provocation, which will amount to healing of wounded souls at some points... so pardon my long-windedness!!

Oooh Boy!

2006-07-08T10:36:00.000+03:00

Blah, blah, maybe the only thing that counts!

Which one counts? Hindsight, Insight, or Foresight??? Just dont say all. Better say none!

There are times in writing, speaking and ofcourse in thinking when sense becomes murky, lost or distinct! Like now!!! So what was I writting? or speaking, or thinking for that matter?

That I have aaa.... settled on two, yes only two theories - look at them, decide your best, and select your pick. One - Life's is unbelievably good. And two, I am just the best!

Good Sato morning...Hmmmm....I'm here at Jobo prepping to finish up on a whole lot that I'd wanted to during the week. There's a guy here helping me to take a photo so that I post it in this log. what he doesnt know is what I am writing - he'll be surprised that I have written

U know when a pal told me sometimes back that "Maq'C, you are not a person, you are a people," I never appreciated that fact in its depth the way I do now. For a whole week, serving others in my line of duty and calling has been the reason I've been having 12hours of work everyday without feeling it.

This is good. What is? My being so jungled up in the mind at this moment, that I possibly will fail so misreably in any noble attempt... but then, these are chersihable moments! I'll feel u in a little later, but as for now, this is how it feels.... "Lilac - kish" wa'eva!

I recall when I was 18 and when I started developing what might be truly called an object in life: to be a reformer of the world. my conception of my own life, including basic decision making was entirely identified with this object. But this is the time I feel like I am awakening from this as from a dream, or a drunken stupor. It's one cold July morning, and this is like 8 years from when I was last a teenager. Putting together thoughts like this make me vividly recall this other fact. Sometime back, not soo long ago, I had been in a dull state of nerves, such as everybody is occassionally prone and liable to; unsusceptible to enjoyment or pleasurable excitement! Coupling my present frame of mind and the string of occurrences in the recent past - it's just occurred to me to put the question to myself. "Suppose that all the objects in life were realised; that all the changes in institutions, individuals and society, which I am so looking forward to, could be completely effected @ this very instant: would this be a great joy and happiness to me?

Tell you what, An impressible self-consciousness distintictly answered: "NO!" Of course, at this my heart sank within me; feels like the whole foundation on which my life was constructed has come crumbling down. And it seems like there's nothing left to live for... If I'd ever loved anyone sufficiently to make confiding my griefs a necessity, I should not be in the condition that I am now.

But honestly, this feels so good. Mary J Blige finally also realises that "It's time I did something for me." Maybe I will say something different sometime later, but I won't regret this feeling that has unceremoniously creeped in like a volcano erupting from its hiding spot...

I think the lesson here is, ask yourself if you are happy and you cease to be so

C U @ MaqC's sometime....

C U @ MaqC's Sometime soon...

Did "The Da Vinci Code" work for you?

2006-07-07T08:05:00.000+03:00

"The movie works; it's involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations."
"Wishy-washiness and its general tonal flatness betray a clock-punching mentality the cast and crew seem to have adopted for its production."
"On film, The Da Vinci Code is not so much a fascinating puzzle as a prolonged slog through material that resists the screen."
"Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller is punishingly long, dramatically overwrought and fatally short on the thrills we demand from summertime blockbusters."
“It’s not very good -- long (2hr.32min.) and mostly inert."
"As a film derived from a book, The Da Vinci Code isn't a fiasco on the order of The Bonfire of the Vanities nor is it a triumph a la The Lord of the Rings. Instead, it's an acceptable but uninspired simulacrum."
"Absent is the pure guilty joy of sequential puzzle-solving; instead of participating in the hunt, we're shoved off to the side as a couple of crashing boors do it for us."
"The movie is so nervous about offending anyone that it's hardly any fun."
"One could classify The Da Vinci Code as diverting, but it has sidestepped greatness by a wide margin."
"If only it were allowed to be merely a cheesy romp, an Indy Jones movie with more sophisticated stereotypes and far less humor. But apparently this is no mere pop novel-turned-high-hat megaplex product."
"Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman struggle mightily to cram as much as possible of Dan Brown's labyrinthine thriller into a 2-hour-28-minute running time, resulting in a movie both overstuffed and underwhelming."
"For people who insist that the movie is never as good as the book, your case just got stronger"

What's cooking this Friday @ MaqC's? well..... there's only one sure way to find that out... C U @ MaqC's

So, does The Da Vinci Code live up to the hype?

2006-07-06T13:37:00.000+03:00

Sort of. It's not a terrible film by any stretch, but it's not perfect either."

No, it's not as bad as you've heard. It's worse."

A jumbled, joyless thriller that neither entertains, nor enlightens - "

There are moments in this film, when this film, like Tom Hanks Hair, laid there like a limp noodle. Is this film at times, pretentious, long and boring? God Yes, but it's also intriguing, suspenseful and engrossing. I was sucked in."

A wishy-washiness and its general tonal flatness betray a clock-punching mentality the cast and crew seem to have adopted for its production

"Feels far more like TV fodder than something worthy of the big screen. The plot is intriguing and the acting pretty good, but the final finish is lackluster."

"... more entertaining and satisfying than the novel." Or Is it?

"You know a movie's a dud when even its self-flagellating albino killer monk isn't any fun.

"The book kept you breathless; the movie makes you restless. "

"On its own cinematic terms, it's a moderately entertaining ride, sort of like the Nicolas Cage hit National Treasure only done with more style and a more respectable cast."

"Too measured to be lively, too skittish to be provocative, too dramatically slack to be more than a ploddingly literal book-on-film."

"The script explains everything twice, spelling out the big words three times, so that even if you've never heard of Jesus or Mary Magdalene you can still figure out this story."

"Frankly, it's a stinker."

"The Da Vinci Code" is essentially just another average Hollywood thriller. Nothing more."

"Every time Langdon starts to educate Sophie, the urge to tune out is overwhelming."

"Opens the door for many spiritual seekers to think afresh about Jesus, sexuality, the Sacred Feminine and the great mysteries that cannot be contained in dogmas."

What's your say? C U @ MaqC's with your comment....

The Da Vinci Code

2006-07-06T12:30:00.000+03:00

For the entire morning, and later into the day, Makerere Nairobi campus has been busy as the conveners of "The Challenge" prepped for the staging of Dan Brown's preposterous, if not prepostreously succesful, Jesus conspiracy thriller - The Da VInci Code!!! Quite possibly with "The Silliest Story Ever Told," Dan Brown has managed to stumble into the screens in a clunky, overblown movie directed by Ron Howard.

It is centered on wan performances by Tom Hanks, as a Harvard professor of "Symbology," and Audrey Tautou, as a French police cryptologist. I reckon it's an amateurishly scripted film that moves in fits and starts, lurching between clichéd action and mayhem sequences and talky, dead-still expositional scenes, which mostly deal with Brown's plot puzzles and kooky, pop-occultist theories about Jesus having fathered a child by Mary Magdalene and the two-millennium conspiracy this generated.

For me, the ultimate effect after watching the movie is to suggest:
a) that such idea-heavy material must work better on the page than the screen, and
b) everyone involved did it for the money.

And why did someone rate it as adults only?

What's your take? What do you reckon? "The Challenge" will convene yet another sitting on Friday afternoon to discuss the issues arising from the movie.

Meantime, and hereinafter, feel free to post your take on this blog.... C U @ MaqC's.....

duerzziesparrx

2006-07-06T11:24:00.000+03:00

I so love this guy - Yes I Do, I Do, I Do!!!!

He's so cranky, but he still passes for the best bro ever. They say you choose your friends, but you get your family - If I were to chose a bro, only one, I'd still chose you, Dave.

It's so sad I won't be able to come for your visiting-cum-prize giving day at Kianyaga High... Blame BCK's bash @ Pummu, Vijana Tukgutuke sensitization and ofcourse Kisima Music Awards.

Nonetheless, Mob love. C U @ MaqC's later....

Officially Launched

2006-07-06T09:15:00.000+03:00

Drums roll!!! Fireworks!!! Paparazzi!!! Lights, camera, action!!! Successfully launched and officially opened for one and all - Feel free to check in at MaqC's whenever, from wherever.

May you Live in Interesting Times!!!