Commenting on the Bird Park, Comets and Dragonflies

I really should consider buying a data cable to transfer pix from my phone directly to the PC. Right now I use the PC a lot more than I use my laptop, so the savings in terms of time would definitely be better. On the other hand, the cable costs $88 so the savings in terms of money......

Oh, to win the lottery......

Anyway, the reason why I'm really considering this now is that I'd some pix in my phone that I wanted to show but to do that, I'd have to infra it to my laptop one by one, which is really irritating. Especially when I get the really loud BEEP! for a failed transfer and I have to press the button SEND over and over again until the damn thing gets through.

Oh well, but I will (hopefullyX3) get a digicam next week! I'm gonna get the Canon all-weather model, 3MPX, 3X Op for $299! Plus the 5000 petrol points that my dad's never used. :p

"You do realise, though, that I will not be able to pay you back till I come back from Europe?"

Dad: "That's ok. I'll just chalk it up to the huge pile of debt that you still owe me. *smile*" Dang.

Speak and be read

Do you guys see a Comments link at the end of the entry?

No? Damn, I did something wrong. Try clicking on the little link at the bottom of the entry that has the time. You'll come onto the archived version of that entry. Scroll to the bottom and there should be a Comments link there. If not, well, the tagboard's still there.......

Yes, blogger now comes with Comments, so if you're divinely inspired to say something about what I wrote, you don't have to scroll to the top, but you can just click on the link. Or rather I hope it works. I actually got a Comment from an Isshan, dunno who he is, dunno where he came from, saying that I could do better in choosing a favourite fantasy writer other than Eddings. ( ??? ) Well, if you are reading my blog, all I can say is that I like Eddings' brand of sarcastic, dry humour, that I haven't really found anywhere else. I don't think about whether the characters are cardboard, [though I would agree the ones in Redemption of Athalus is] and whether the plot is standard. To apply an age-old generic argument: "To each his own." :p

I'm kinda bemused, actually, at 1) the Comments working, because when I first tried to activate them, I ran into problems and they told them Comments Not Working or something to that effect. And then suddenly I realise they could work. And 2) that this guy has popped out of the blue to comment on my choice of favourite writer. Like, where the freak did you come from??? Did you google me or something?? Do I know you at all?

Yes, yes, I know. It's the Internet after all......

Leave it to the birds

Visit to the Birdpark wasn't too bad. The one thing that struck me was the sheer colour of all the birds around. Most of the birds you see in everyday life come in black, brown, white, but these birds were a multitude of rainbow colours! The ones that greeted us at the entrance was the famous red-blue-yellow macaw that we see on all the colouring pencil boxes, and gods, their colours look soooo much better in real life than on the boxes.

And I saw a Hedwig! Real life snowy owl, in a special enclosure that had hardly any light in it at all, and was dedicated to birds that lived in the dark. It was so pretty, but in terms of majesty, couldn't beat the Eurasian owl. [I swear I got that name wrong, but anyhow...] This owl is huge, must've been about knee height and the wing span was fantastically long... *Sigh*

Bird show was ok, your usual bubbly-over-the-top host showing off the birds doing their little circus act, but the Birds of Prey show is mucho better. Before the show starts, you're warned to keep all food away, lest something snatches it out from midair. Then when the birds come, whoa...... the birds of prey have a sheer majesty about them that the other birds in the park just don't have. As they stretch their wings, as they glide in midair a hair's breath away from your head, suddenly, you feel like prey. You feel vulnerable below these magnificent creatures, and you are aweful of them for that. How to describe the feeling you get when you see a creature so much more powerful and free than you are?

Then at a point of the show, they asked a 10 year old girl on stage, to hold a plate with a strip of meat on it, while the kites flying overhead would swoop down onto the plate and snatch the piece of meat away. Damn, they're fast. Before he even finished explaining it to her, one kite had already swooped down, gulped the meat down and flew off. And how do they feed these birds in the air? 2 keepers stand with slingshots and sling the meat into the air, where the kites would fly swiftly towards it and catch it deftly in their beaks, all in midair! Dang!

The funny part was when he suggested he put the meat on her hand instead. (!!) The look of consternation on her face was soooo hilarious... hee... And when he asked the audience Who wants to see them take the meat from her hand? she went Nooooooo and had this Oh God don't do this to me look on her face. Hee.

Well of course he didn't do it! I don't think the Bird Park is ready to be sued for a kite biting the hair off her scalp!

OK, I definitely the birds of prey to anything else in the park. Hee. The rest of the birds are unique because of their colour and plumage. The bird of paradise, for example, has a tail so long and fine, it looks like hair. Pure white hair cascading from its butt. :p The scarlet ibises are, well, scarlet, and there were tons of other small birds in the walkthrough aviaries in tons of different colours. A feathery kaleidoscope of colour. A flash of blue in the greenery. A spot of yellow flying before your eyes.

But I think the real masters are still the Predators. I still prefer majesty over colour. I think the sight of a pair of powerful wings, spreading itself wide, and strong, hooked talons are infinitely more awe-inspiring than a cute bird with pretty colours. Don't get me wrong, the cute birds are cute, but given the choice... make me an strong, large hunting bird. And carnivorous.

Hmmmm..... Meat......

Well, Newbie had to leave after that and because I don't like the idea of staying at home on a Sat night, I made my way to see...

Comets!

Though unfortunately, I didn't see any at all because tonight was too cloudy. Bleah.

Anywayz, the Science Centre has been advertising the appearance of Comet NEAT and Comet LINEAR for this week and next week. So on the 20 and 21 of May, they'd be opening later than usual [till 2130] so that people can come in and see the comets. [if they're lucky]Since I had nothing to do for the rest of the night, I stopped off at Jurong East to go there.

And half the folks there are... kids. You notice this the moment you walk in because of the reverse bungee that had been set up near the entrance, with a line of kids eagerly waiting their turn to be catapulted into the air and have their stomachs turned upside down. Dragged down by their parents in the name of scientific interest, and hoping their kids will develop a healthy interest in a subject that will prove of utmost importance in shaping their academic career. Ok, I digress.

Then, you notice... Gandalf???? Promoters for the LOTR exhibition, dressed as Frodo, [reminded me of keng leong for some reason. dunno why.] Gandalf, Arwen, and a Ringwraith, giving out pamphlets for the exhibition, and taking advantage of the added crowds coming to see the comet.

Over near Mac's, they put up a screen to show a movie that would add to the atmosphere. Mind you, this is a comet viewing, right? So what did they show? Deep Impact. Hm, I wonder at the irony. You're there to promote astronomy, by inviting people to view 2 comets in your place, and you show a movie about a comet potentially blasting the Earth apart. Er, whatever... Kinda like a butcher showing "Babe" at his meat stall.

Movie was boring, so after a while, I made my way to the observatory, and came out to see a sky full of... clouds. Argh! Where's the stars?? Where's the moon?? Where's the comet??? Dammit. Feels like a kid all hyped up to go to the amusement park, only to find all the rides suck.

On the other hand, though, kudos to the staff for making the night a bit more interesting. How do you entertain a bunch of restless kids, all clamouring for something to happen? You show off a $2000 laser. A mean piece of apparatus that shone all the way to the sky, and you hear all the kids go, "Waaaaa......" Then you fire a couple of rockets into the air, asking them to count "5....4....3....2....1! Blast off!" and as the little rocket shoots off, you hear them go, "Waaaa......" again. It doesn't take very much to entertain kids, it seems. Once you manage to tear them away from the TV, computer, and Playstation anyway.

But after that, I looked at the sky, and decided that with all the clouds in the air, I wasn't gonna see any comets tonight. I made my way back to the garden where they were showing the movie and played with some of the exhibits there. One was a big red round hear with a large black round nose. Think of a Mr Men character. What you do is you turn the nose 6 times very quickly, say something into the mouth, and later on, it repeats it back at you. The thing must have a child filter though. When I said "Lah" and "Wah lau why like that?" it repeated it to me. When I said "Stupid thing" and "Oh shit" it didn't. Humph. Should've tried f**k or something.

Then there's the pulley. Think of the rope climbing frames we had in school. Now think of a giant weight attached to the bottom of that rope, and a sophisticated pulley device at the top of the frame. What you do, is stand on the weight, and pull yourself up using the rope, while standing on the weight. So you're lifting yourself up while standing on the weight. Trust me, but standing there trying to pull yourself up really works as a motivator to lose weight. :p Especially when you have to lift yourself up somewhere.

What an educational day. Afternoon in the Bird park and evening in the Science Centre.

A dragonfly tale

This is a story based on the Dragonfly on the Shoulder story I wrote a while back. [start browsing, people...] However, the only scene that's been flashed in my mind so far, is the following scene. :p Maybe next I'll flesh out the story and people as I go along.

Or maybe I'll just continue from here. I don't know.


She holds her hand up to her shoulder, and the little dragonfly that was perching there all along walks onto it. She then lifts it up to her face, so that it's facing her.

What are you thinking? She wonders silently to herself.

Why are you content to simply stay there on my shoulder? Don't you want to fly? Don't you want to be human? Why do you prefer to just stay there and do nothing?

She receives no answer from the dragonfly. It looks at her with beady, unreadable insectile eyes. Its wings quiver slightly, as if contemplating an answer, but nothing comes to her. Then it flies off and lands lightly on her shoulder. Out of her sight, she only knows its there because she feels the slight weight on it, and the flutter of its wings.

Other than that, it does nothing.