Thursday, January 31, 2008

Isn't it slightly inhumane?

I was watching a program called 'the F word' last night and chef Ramsey's well known for his short fuse. In this episode, he was going to slaughter some home bred turkeys, which his kids had raised as pets. And they were even given names of other chefs, people like Jamie and Nigella.

Before they turkeys were to be slaughtered, he brought his kids out to say goodbye to them and even gave the kids the option of which turkey to slaughter first. As he and the kids left, he said to the turkey, see you later in the oven. All this was done in a very nonchalant manner.

I was slightly disturbed, to say the least. I don't think it's just right for little kids to raise pets and then eat them. You shower pets with all sorts of affection but you certainly dont eat them.

Wouldn't kids, with their active imagination, think that they might one day suffer similar fate after being raised and cared for by their parents? I know it's a bit farfetched, but I just feel it's not the right thing to do.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

English

Can you read these right the first time?

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce ..

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what langua ge do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .

There is a two-letter word that perhapshas more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP , you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP , so............ Time to shut UP!!!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Can you spot it?



Spotted at an optical shop. Must be a new trend.



hmmm....wonder what awaits the unsuspecting recepient

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Welcome 2008

It’s been quite awhile and but Happy New Year anyways...hehehhe…wish the break was longer though. Yes…yes…I’m greedy…but then, who isn’t? Anyway, went up to Genting Highlands for a couple of days during the break. The kids really enjoyed the rides…but take my advise, don’t be a hero, 2 days just ain’t enough if you wanna go on all the rides.


We arrived quite late actually, at bout 4pm. During the journey to the top, the kids had already spotted the cable car and it was the first ‘ride’ we went on. RM10 for 2 adults 2 ways is pretty reasonable as it's quite a long journey.

As for the theme park rides, I was told by a friend that you can get a daily indoor & outdoor pass for 2 adults for bout RM70+. That's very cheap considering I paid RM90 for a indoor family package on day 1 and RM76 for 2 adult fares for the outdoor park on day 2.
As expected, the weather's very cooling and a nice change to the swealthering heat.
Some pix taken with my new toy..hehehe

Sunset from cable car
Indoor theme park

View from ferris wheel in outdoor them park