THE MONSOON ARRIVES ... too much of a good thing

 Salam and good day I wish you on this cold and wet morning.

The monsoon is here... as expected. Cold, wet, windy ... the whole bloody lot. Mother nature is always reliable. It's pouring cats and dogs this morning. well, actually, it's been pouring since yesterday, and has gotten even worse today. Cats and dogs yesterday, cows and pigs today... LOL 

As usual, I have tons of assessments to mark, but I just could not get myself to look at them yet. Instead, I went out, looked at the rain, shot a video and updated my blog. It's either that or watching Queen music videos. Well, f it makes you happy luv, do it. Anyway, I feel so much better now. I'm actually feeling quite motivated to work. 

The last I heard, several areas have flooded and some roads are closed. Don't know how long this will last. I hope the best for all the flood victims and I also hope my flowers in my small yard will not die from too much rain. You know what they say... too much of a good thing ... 

Queen - Too Much Love Will Kill You

THE BOOK OF LIFE ... chapter 55

 Salam and good day. 

55 today. Thank you Allah.

What can I say. It's been a long weary year. Covid is still lingering in the air and things are only halfway back to normal. Not sure whether we will be able to get back to pre-covid normal. A lot of people are taking the current situation as the new normal. 

Well, new or old, I can't wait to retire... on this day next year, I will be free... for now... let's hope for a miracle...

photo from Pinterest

Queen - The Miracle

 courtesy of youtube

IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS ... there is peace and serenity

 Salam and good day,

Here I am again, ready to begin another semester. Seems like just yesterday I finished teaching the third semester. 

This semester, instead of online teaching, (which I have sort of gotten used to by now), the university wants us to do hybrid lesson. Hybrid, meaning, a combination of online and face to face lesson., ie: 50% of each. Sounds simple enough. Well, it is anything but simple. 

The 50% face to face and online only applies to students' learning time, 

For the lecturers, its actually 100% face to face, but in the face to face class, only 50% of the students will be physically present and the remaining will have it as an online lesson. That's one scenario. I know. It's complicated.

Anyway, the hybrid lesson consists of six different scenarios based to the actual number of students who are physically on campus and those who are not. Therefore, if I have six sections to teach, and unluckily, have six different scenarios, well... chaos would be an understatement. I'm literally heading into a storm. 

The bright side is this coming semester would be my second last before I'm off to my retirement. Sooo looking forward to it. I'm  just too old for this mode of teaching.

Speaking of storm, it's October now, and we can expect a visit from our dear friend, the North East monsoon in a few weeks. Yes, Mr Monsoon will come with abundance of rain, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. That gives me an idea for a November poem. Hopefully, I will have the time to think about it, you know, with all the chaos.

But, for now, I need something soothing... here it is...

Despite, the title, My Melancholy Blues, This song is not at all depressing. It is the most peaceful and serene song ever.

related post : death-on-two-legs-dedicated-to.

I'M HANGING ONTO THE CLOUDS .... by my fingertips

 

 I'm hanging onto the clouds 

by my fingertips

  I curse the wind

 I curse the sea

I curse the moonlight

wishing they would stop mocking 

and just let me be

                              I'm hanging onto the clouds

by my fingertips

way beneath I could see

a sea of smiling faces

thousands of helping hands 

beckoning me

to come down

                              Still I hung onto the clouds

by the very end of my fingertips

and

When my strength grudgingly hands me over 

 to the grasping arms of gravity

and  the earth gets to lay its hands on me

dare they be my safety net

                                          or

would they

with a smile plastered on their faces

mutter...poor thing

and go on to talk about politics

so

I shall keep hanging onto the clouds 

by the strength of my fingertips....

MADE IN HEAVEN ..... only Queen fans ....

 

Only Queen fans would know this date : 5th September. 

AUGUST

 

AUGUST

Ketika alam terasa sempit

hutan semakin lesu dan sepi

rumput berjuang untuk kekal hijau

masih aku kagumi hari-hari yang  hadir

asalkan bulan tetap hangat di angkasa.

TEO TORRIATTE ... Let us cling together ... Tokyo 2021

 Salam and good day,

Oh yes. As a Queen fan, I am very proud and moved that they played Queen's Teo Torriatte at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 opening ceremony. 

If you don't know that song, then you might have missed their album 'A Day At The Races' It's a beautiful song, written by Brian May for their Japanese fans

It's no secret that the Japanese love Queen, and this just proves it. They still love queen, just as much as I do.

Sadly, I could not put the video of the opening ceremony here because for some reason, it was blocked. However, I did find a snippet of it in twitter ... here

Hear my song, still think of me the way you've come to think of me.....

Miss you Mr Mercury

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT ... bakawali

 Salam and good day,

I walked into my yard early one morning, around 6.30 am and I was greeted by a glorious sight. Glorious because it was such a rare sight to behold. 

Yes. I was greeted by the still blooming Bakawali flower or its not so exotic scientific name Epiphyllum Oxytpetallum.  Mind you, I was lucky to be able to catch it still blooming as it was already daylight and the flower was already wilting, never to bloom again. 

also known as Queen of the night

, Gul-e-Bakavali, Kadupul, Brahma Kamalam, Beauty below the moon

Blooming only once a year, the blooming period is said to be from the end of June till early July, which was around the time I took these pictures. Being a night blooming cactus, they start to open after dusk, around 8 or nine pm and start to fade after dawn. hence the name Queen of the night. Not only that, each flower will only bloom once and only for a few hours. 

That is why we will never see this flower being sold in flower shops and florist or blooming in the nursery. They could never make it to the shops. so, they can never be bought in all their entirety, which renders them priceless, ergo, the most expensive flower in the world.

Luckily, there were a few more buds that hasn't bloomed. I waited 2 days for them to bloom.

so here it is, the Queen of the night in all its glory, captured on 21.06.2021 at 11.35 pm

Oh, did I tell you about the scent? How would I describe the scent. It is soft, warm and sweet, and it perfumed my whole yard. Heavenly. 

However, if you are an avid believer of the paranormal, smelling the Bakawali scent in the middle of the night would definitely make the hair on your arm stand up and send you scrambling indoor. Incidentally,  just a few moments ago, a booming thunder cracked the sky. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Well, I guess that's my cue to stop.  

REFERENCES:

https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokok_Bakawali

http://ipgmktar.edu.my/etnobotani/2018/10/22/bunga-bakawali/

https://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/09/moonlight-beauty

http://pplh.ulm.ac.id/id/2020/02/28/15-bunga-terlangka-di-dunia/

50 YEARS OF QUEEN ... update 4 minit

 

HAWK-MOTH ... oleander or jade

 Salam and good day

3 hari lepas, sewaktu saya sedang mengemas bahagian hadapan rumah, saya ternampak setompok daun melekat pada eksoz motor anak saya yang sudah tidak digunakan. Namun, sewaktu saya mendekati untuk menyapu daun itu, saya dapati yang ia bukan daun, sebaliknya seekor kupu-kupu yang agak pelik rupanya. Pelik bagi saya kerana tak pernah terjumpa kupu-kupu seperti itu. 

inilah kupu-kupu yang saya jumpa

Selepas mengambil beberapa photo, saya biarkan saja kupu-kupu itu. Out of curiosity, saya google gambar species kupu-kupu di Malaysia, namun tiada yang padan. Saya google pula rama-rama di Malaysia, sama juga, tiada padanan. Lama juga lah saya mencari, berpuluh-puluh gambar kupu-kupu dan rama-rama yang saya tengok. Akhirnya, saya google 'moth' dan saya dapat dua gambar yang agak serupa dengan yang saya jumpa. 

s

species pertama adalah Daphnis nerii, the oleander hawk-moth atau army green moth dari keluarga Sphingidae atau hawkmoth. 

Oleander hawk-moth/daphnis nerii 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnis_nerii

species kedua adalah Daphnis hypothous, the jade hawk-moth, dari keluarga yang sama.

Jade hawk-moth/daphnis hypothous
https://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/d_hyp.htm

Apparently, terdapat sedikit perbezaan antara keduanya, tetapi, saya bukan seorang entomologist, jadi saya gagal membezakan antara kedua species. Menurut cucu saya yang berusia 9 tahun, ' the top one has the same pattern, but, the bottom one has the same colour'. 

what do you think?


References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnis_nerii

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnis_hypothous

https://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/d_hyp.htm

CORONAVIRUS RHAPSODY ... stress buster

 Here we are , bracing the third wave of Coronavirus. still WFH. 

Anyway, I found this while browsing for Queen videos, and I just have to post it. Lyrics by comedian Dana Jay Bein, performed by Adrian Grimes, music by Queen obviously. Just a bit of fun to see us through these gloomy times. Enjoy.

HAPPINESS IS ...

ON A RAINY JANUARY MORNING

 

ONE VISION - happy new year

Here's one for the new year.

One Vision - Queen

 

Have a great year y'all.