It's the end of July/ early August, and my tuberose is blooming. Go figure. Despite its name, tuberose is not actually a rose. I just felt like quoting Shakespeare, that's all.
I'm a tiny bit confused with the flowering season of this flower. Last year, it bloomed sometime in November/ December, this year, it's July/ August. Next year... March/April?
Regardless of when they decide to show up, I'm glad they did at all. I simply love the smell ... so soft and slightly musky, a bit similar to Jasmine and the Bakawali / Queen of the Night
And, like the Bakawali, The scent of the tuberose is also often associated with the presence of spirits and ghosts... yea... I don't know about that. However, if you suddenly get a whiff of a tuberose scent while walking in a dark deserted alley, in the middle of the night ... you should run, love... even if you don't believe in ghosts ... just run.
I was watching tv when i suddenly remembered reading about the moon venus mars cluster which was supposed to happen tonight. I can't remember what triggered my memory, but it doesn't matter.
I ran out and looked up the sky. Sure enough, i could clearly see the moon below Venus. Venus looks like a very bright white star. Towards the right of Venus is the twin stars of Gemini and further up is Mars which appears as a small orange star.
I grabbed my phone and tried to get a photo of all the planets. Alas, it is not meant to be. I could only get the moon and venus as the other three are too faint to be captured by my phone camera.
So... here it is... the moon seen below venus.
Tmrw night the moon will be positioned above venus and below mars.
This is the time when i wish i have a fairly decent camera.
Anyway, the next time you go to put out the trash at night, don't forget to glance up. The night sky is always a sight to behold.
This is from one of their unreleased tracks for their The Miracle album back in 1988. It was originally recorded for the album but did not make the final album cut.
The song has a dramatic beginning with Roger's base drum, followed by a melancholy guitar solo, and Freddie's voice... so hauntingly beautiful and full of emotions.
It's beautiful and so so sad, it hits you straight in the gut.
Have a listen.
After all these years, it's so good to hear all four of them playing together. I miss Queen.
Visited our upgraded Mini Zoo yesterday with my grandson. Pleasantly surprised,I must say.
Apparently, it's the first hybrid zoo in Malaysia. Hybrid in that it combines both live animals and replicas of pre historic predators. Worth a visit. I'm just going to post pictures of the Mini Zoo... in mini packages.
entrance
in Middle Earth now ... The Hobbit house
close encounter of the third kind
blast from the past
more pics in the next instalment of The Hybrid Zoo.
These are not the refugees we are used to... These people are Europeans. These people are intelligent, they are educated people... This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists ...
Bulgarian Prime Minister, Kirril Petkov
These are prosperous, middle class people. These are not obviously refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East ... in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to ...
Al Jazeera English, Television presenter
This isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilised, relatively European - I have to choose those words carefully too - city where you wouldn't expect that, or hope it's going to happen.
Charlie D'Agata, CBS News senior correspondent
[Ukranian refugees] are prosperous, middle class people. These are obviously not refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war.These are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to.
Peter Dobbie, Al Jazeera English, anchor
Some European commentators on Western Media have described Ukrainian refugees as being 'civilised', 'middle-class' and 'prosperous' and different from those from 'third world nations'.
the conversation.com
and if that's not enough,
The New York Times reported that non-white people fleeing Ukraine were being blocked from leaving, in favour of white Ukrainians.
Wow. The blatant doubIe standard and racism makes me sick.
I don't mean to be negative, but
WTF!!!!!!!!!!
I feel for refugees from Asia and Africa, I really do.
This makes it very difficult for me to feel any sympathy for Ukrainians.
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.
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.
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.
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'.
I came across Queen Boudica while watching Expedition Unknown, S6 ep16. This programme is hosted by Joshua Gates, an archeologist, explorer and adventurer, like a 21st century Indiana Jones, minus the , err... arse kicking.He travels around the world, trying to solve ancient mysteries, digging tombs, looking for buried treasure etc. Like I said... Indiana Jones.
In this episode, he was trying to locate the last battleground of Queen Boudica which was also believed to be her burial site. As was the custom then, this would be where her people would have given offerings of silver and gold to honour their leader.
In London, he visited the monument of Boudica which is situated next to the House of Parliament, on the embankment of the Thames. The monument is a bronze statue of Queen Boudica in her chariot, with her two daughters, designed byThomas Thorneycroft in 1902.
Josh Gates mentioned that, he has been to London countless times and have stood on that very spot more than a few times, but he has never noticed the monument until that day. Yes, now that he mentioned it, I have also stood on that very spot more than 30 years ago, and I also did not notice the monument. Apparently, not many people know who the monument is for because not many know about Queen Boudica. So, who is she, and why have I not heard of her before while studying about the British history?
the monument of Queen Boudica
First, lets find out who she is. We go back to the time of the Roman conquest in AD43. Queen Boudica was married to King Prasutagus who ruled the Iceni tribe of East Anglia, which was the wealthiest and most powerful of the Celtic tribes. They had two daughters.
When Rome arrived in Britain, the Iceni made a treaty with the Romans, allowing individual kings or rulers to stay in power, keeping their tribal lands and their way of lives. They, however, would be ruling on behalf of Rome.
When King Prasutagus died in AD 60/61, he left half of his estate to emperor Nero for Rome and the other half for his daughters. This did not go well with the Romans as they expect everything to be handed back to them once the king is dead.
So, the Romans raided and destroyed the place. Boudica was publicly flogged and her daughters were taken out and raped by the Romans. Big mistake Romans!!!!!!
Pissed off and hungry for revenge, Boudica rose and led the Icenic army against the Romans. She torched Roman cities and was described by Roman historians as a merciless foe, responsible for barbaric acts of torture.. Seen as one of the most fearsome warrior and history's fiercest woman, the warrior Queen fought the might of Rome and got her revenge.
Most of the stories about Boudica came from Roman historians because at that time, ancient Britain did not have a written language, hence, the lack of record. So, what we get is Boudica from the Romans point of view. Of course, they saw her as merciless and barbaric. I don't think the Romans can handle women with power... LOL
Even though she was not English, (she was Celt, the Anglo Saxons did not arrive in Britain until much later in history. That, plus living in a land without writing, was probably why I did not come across her when learning about British history.) she is today, considered as a British folk hero and a righteous freedom fighter.
Boudica - mother, wife, killer or Boudica - mother, leader, freedom fighter. Depending on which side of the Roman empire you stood.
I choose both - Boudica - mother, wife, killer, leader, freedom fighter. I'm a sucker for badass warrior queens, and Queen Boudica is definitely one. Lady, you rock!
It might not be very relevant, but, reading about Boudica reminds me of this song.
salam and good day, It's a beautiful day. A day for spending at the beach or a park or taking my grandchildren to the swimming pool, before covid19 that is. Right now, its best to follow the government's order and stay at home. To quote Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge: 'we adapt, we compromise'. Right on mr Eastwood. Speaking of adapting and compromising, how do you feel about online teaching? Me? I'm so not into online teaching. Maybe it's because i was born in the 60s and grew up in the 70s and 80s, way before the age of IT, or, may be i'm just old fashion. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against technology or online teaching for that matter. Technology is great, just not my cup of tea. It is certainly useful, and some people might be really good at online teaching. It's a matter of personal preference, I guess. i remember a scene from the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic where they went to a farm to record their album 'A night at the opera'. At one point, after Brian did his solo part for BoRap, he asked what Freddie thought of it, and Freddie said, 'almost perfect'. Brian: Almost perfect? Freddie: Now play it like you actually wrote it. Brian: i did. I wrote that part. Freddie: put your body into it. And he went on to say, put your heart into it. That is exactly how i feel about online teaching. Making a video of my lecture or lesson is not a big problem, but putting my heart into the video is not easy. Some might say, just post the video. After that, it's all up to the students. Who cares whether the understand it or not. Well, I care. Anyway, there was a forum (online, of course) with my vice chansellor this morning, on the new norm for us in UMP. Nèedless to say, online teaching and learning is going to become a normal thing, post MCO. So, there is no escape for me. Heart or no heart, I'll have to get used to it. All I can do is to give it my best... find ways to put some rock n roll into my online teaching materials...LOL Just like with the movement control order, we adapt, we compromise, the same goes for online teaching. In the meantime, i will do some gardening, helps me think. Salam Ramadhan to all muslims.
Been a while, but here I am again. Two weeks ago, I finally got to watch 'Bohemian Rhapsody', two years after it was released. Sad, but it's been ages since I've set foot in a cinema. Thanks to Astro, I finally got to see it.
I recorded the movie and I watched it over and over, and it breaks my heart every time. All their songs came back to me one by one, songs that I grew up with. Memories of my late brother, who introduced me to Queen when I was 10 or 11, singing along to 'another one bites the dust', 'Fat Bottomed Girls' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. My brother was a big fan of 70s and 80s rock, and, needless to say,so am I, and I am still Queen's number 1 fan.
Memories of my days studying in the UK in the 80s, scrambling to the common room to watch 'Top of the Pops', going into record shops to buy their 'A kind of Magic' album and watching 'The Highlanders' a few times because of Queen, and also because of Christopher Lambert, in that order. The movie brought them all back to me.
I love the movie, mainly because I love Queen and I adore Freddie Mercury. Rami Malek, did a great job of playing Freddie. The movie doesn't have any hi-tech special effects or any great fighting scenes in it. It's just a simple story, with great acting and awesome music. What else do you need?
I was in England in 1985, so, I know about the live aid concert, and I can relate to the excitement of that time.I breaks my heart, every time I get to the 'live aid concert' scene at the end, seeing them perform the best live rock concert ever, knowing, six years after that, Freddy Mercury would die.
I guess I'm still mourning for the loss of someone so beautiful and so talented.
RIP. Love you always, Freddie Mercury..
here is the video of what is still known as the best live rock concert ever, from youtube.
Musim tengkujuh sudah tiba, Dihalaman saya, saya lihat kelopak bunga berguguran ditimpa hujan. Sayang sekali. Daripada saya biarkan bunga berguguran, lebih baik saya petik dan guna untuk mandi.
antara bunga-bungaan yang saya petik dari halaman
Saya sering juga mandi bunga. Kalau banyak bunga yang mekar di halaman, pasti saya petik dan campurkan dengan air mandi, Mandi bunga saya cuma sekadar mandi dengan air yang dicampur bunga-bungaan, tiada sebarang ritual dan tiada niat tertentu. Cuma mandi untuk menyegarkan badan.
bunga boleh diletak sekuntum atau di di ceraikan kelopaknya
Dari segi saintifik, bunga dikatakan sebagai penyerap tenaga matahari terbaik. Menurut Dato' Dr Haji Mohd Fadzilah Kamsah, Khasiat yang terdapat dalam bunga dan tenaga yang diserap dari matahari akan terserap ke dalam tubuh badan orang yang mandi bunga. Ia juga menyegarkan badan serta menaikkan seri wajah. Jadi, kalau ada bunga2 kembang di halaman, ambil lah beberapa kuntum dan campak saja ke dalam baldi. In this color, I’ve become the branch holding the last rites of Spring, in a moment I squeeze the last fragrant essence between fingertips. In this color, I weave a tale of souls swimming in a pink sky.
Ya, semangat saya hilang, Kenapa? Malas nak cerita panjang, tak ada semangat untuk menulis. Anggap saja saya demotivated tahap dewa...hehe Kata XPDC ... ' usahlah diragukan, keupayaan diri...' betul lah itu.
Yang pasti, semangat itu akan kembali, yang tak pastinya... bila? Tunggu saja . Jom dengar lagu.
