The tree song

This song is mega cute!!! Pity it didn't progress to the finals for the Anugerah Juara Lagu this year.

Hi, my name is Snuze and I am a music addict

Do you have a soundtrack to your life? Does it change with every period?

Mine currently is Pet Shop Boys on a loop *grin*.

I began my love affair with music ever since I started to learn to bop along to Men At Works The Safety Dance when I was six. Music is a major part of my life even though I cannot play a single instrument and am  a mediocre singer. If you drive in and around Klang Valley and see a demented woman howling and/or headbanging along to something in her car stereo, there is a possibility that person you were observing was me.

I got a feel for the music, 'k?

My affection for music crosses genre and language; for me the musical experience is about the harmony of sound and rhythm. Listening to the formerly known as Radio 4 on weekend nights taught me appreciation of opera and classical music (Rimsky-Korsakov anyone?). Klasik Nasional.fm helped me to get in touch with my Nusantara roots: inang, asli, gambus, zapin, ghazal and traditional Javanese music. Keroncong, however, lies together with rap, hip hop and trance music when it comes to my inability to appreciate it.

One of the best birthday presents I ever got was this Sony mp3 player that my sister and brother-in-law got for me a couple of years back. 4 Gb of space makes for a goodly time for auditory bliss. I've changed the original earphones with excellent Phillips earbuds and now I interchange between earbuds, headphones and a speaker (also gifts from sis and B-i-L for last year's day of age celebration). The earbuds are so good that I can listen happily at volume level 1 (maximum is 30) when alone in my room (with no interference from the aircondition or fan).

Because I am a music addict, I am very afraid of losing my hearing due to prolonged use of the earbuds/earphone. The New York Times Magazine had published a lovely (if abbreviated) background to the history of the earphones, its contextual place in the society and a cautionary tale about possible hearing loss due to over-exposure to loud music. The earbuds are particularly dangerous as one tends to crank up the volume to very high levels in public places to block out the external noise. I am often concerned when I sit in the light rail transit and I could hear Lady Gaga from the person seated 3 persons away from me.

If you like to listen to music on the go in loud environments, I would suggest you invest in a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones. However, a really good pair + loud music = you not hearing the mad honking of the driver before you were flattened on the street.

At least Ally McBeal was mildly entertaining...

In the Barrister’s Chambers by Tina Gabrielle
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The premise was intriguing; a historical romance novel about lawyers written by a lawyer? Sounds awesome, right?

Don't judge a book by its blurb.

Go forth and multiply!

How big is the biggest family you know? 8 children? 12? 29 kids by way of 4 wives?

How about 150 kids?

No, I am not kidding. A sperm donor in North America has fathered 150 offsprings based on the tracking records by this website. That's right. One man. 150 kids. One donor fathered 70 children and had to keep track of them using a spreadsheet. Genetically speaking, this is unhealthy, not to mention increasing the risk of inadvertent incest from siblings who are unaware that they share the same father. Yeah, yeah, the pro-'cest camp will say that the incest taboo is a social construct, but consanguinuous relationships often produce unhealthy offspring who may suffer from physical and/or mental disabilities.

Sperm donation (intentionally or inadvertently due to cheating) has been around since time immemorial to overcome the problem of the male partner shooting blanks (or is just an annoying git whose genes must NOT reproduce). But never has it hit in such a big way as it does today with fertility clinics and sperm agencies flourishing to fulfill baby-making needs world-wide.

I often wonder what drives a man to donate his sperm. Is it out of altruism to help infertile couples? Is it an ego boost thing to be populating the world with his little babies whom he doesn't have to support? Or is it as simple as because the financial transaction for a few fapping sessions is pretty lucrative? (Apparently you get paid more if you are nice looking and have a college degree, but do recipients really know if the donor looks like Brad Pitt or a troll, particularly for anonymous donation?)

The question of sperm donor motivation has been the focus of several studies. A 1994 study in Scandinavia painted that the majority of the donors are driven by monetary gain. I guess a guy gotta finance his grad school education some way; not everyone could be a singing telegram or strip for Chippendale. Or maybe just an ordinary guy wanting to pay his bills.

Paternity is a word that is both frightening and exciting. If it was something sought by a guy, it is probable the happiest news ever. Unless of course, he's left holding the bag for someone else's seed. Or became an inadvertent daddy like the guy in the video below. 

(One of the best romance novels trope, yo.)



Now that we have welcomed the 7th billion person on this planet, should we keep multiplying like bunnies?

*contemplate*

Dance!

I have always been a fan of Pet Shop Boys since the 80s (yes, I am that old. Shut up.). They have a gift of combining novel musical elements together into something dance-y and yet suffused with a darkness in their message. PSB is also big on stunning visuals and have no compunctions to slip into crazy outfits with every new album they produced.

I don't know how I could have missed out this video; it was released last year. But then again, I kept (and still do) losing the battle for the remote control.
But this! The engaging storyline, mellifluous shots and flow ... a master craftsman product of a video.

Enjoy.

Midweek shits and giggles

Late to the party

I have just lost my nerd credentials: I only found out today that 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry.

And me, who believe in better living through chemistry.

*hangs head in shame*

And there are pretty posters! Swiped from here.

 Matter as elucidated by Einstein.

Graphene: the strongest material known to man.

Hydrogen: Explosive and yet when combined with oxygen, is the elixir of life.

Radiate! Marie Curie style.

Chemistry is about elements forming substance forming the universe as you and I know it.

Vive le chimie!

And what does 2012 hold for us? Armageddon?

Nah.

Just the International Year for Cooperatives. No pretty posters yet.

What they never tell you ...

I have always been a bit of a science geek. I did well enough in high school that they pushed me to science stream and I entertained delusions of being an otorhinolaryngologist (ear nose and throat specialist).

Needless to say I'll bet many students have ideas of science as illustrated in the top panel. If they are daft enough (like me) and go into post-graduate research, then they'll discover the truth (as seen in bottom panel).

WTF moment of the day

Don't care. Got Johnny Depp.

Midweek shits and giggles