The End Of A Season

There is every reason to end 2014 with exuberance, shared well-being and good cheer!

Enjoy the peace of Christmas!

Grey Herons In Bukit Jalil, Selangor

Bukit Jalil, providentially carved out from virgin jungle once, has become a santuary.

For the regulars who go there at early dawn to exercise in well-mantained lakes and manicured gardens, it is a restful and pleasing place.

For the grey herons, it is rich feeding ground. The lakes are stocked with fish.

The caretaker of one restrooms observed that the herons come to feast from eleven in the morning to late noon.

I was waiting with my Nikon D700 and a tele-len.

The herons came. There were 12 of them, arriving separately, cautiously, gorgeously.

Here is how I see them.

At Andaman In Langkawi Malaysia

At the north-western tip of Langkawi island is a tiny resort facing the Andaman Sea.

The surrounds are exquisite.

Here are my revisits expressed in a watercolour and in some photographs.

Watercolour Stories In Paintings

A colour is a beautiful thing. So is a texture. And a brush line. And a shape.

When they are together in a flow of energy, I imagine that they would have a story to share.

Here are some individual stories, each in a watercolour way.

Pictures From The Garden

There is a botanical garden in Bukit Tinggi in Selangor, Malaysia.

At 3,500 ft above sea level, mist from Genesis covers it now and then to bring colours to the plants.

Here are some that caught my interests.

Christmas Blessings

Wishes For A Good Christmas

Wishing you joy, peace and love!

Have a beautiful Christmas.

Celebrating Christmas With Joy-filled Tunes

Here a beautiful collection of listenable christmas tunes.

Have a lovely Christmas!

Sir Paul McCartney: His Songs And Others' Interpretations

Here is another segment on Sir Paul McCartney.

Paul McCartney: His Mind, His sound, His Work

When the things that make life meaningful are all together, there is beauty, goodness and grace.

And lovely to watch and remember.

Here is a great one!

(Ignore the interruption in one segment, the entertainment continues...)

The Power Behind Thinking With Clarity

There is a powerful benefit that rewards the person who can use the right word in the right place.

Specifically the context surrounding HOW TO THINK and WHAT TO THINK.

What is the GAP between these two word: HOW and WHAT?

How does clarity of thinking reap tremendous benefits for the practitioner?

Finding The Spark That Fires You Up

Sir Ken Robinson speaks to the heart.

At the heart is a desire to be happy doing what one does best and be financially comfortable at the same time.

Somewhere between doing what one does best and being paid for doing what one does best, lies an important link.

And what is that?

In these two videos, I found some interesting insights and life-tips.

See if you find relevance for yourself or for your kids in these interviews with Sir Ken.

The Energy Zing-A-Magic

ENERGY.

This is the next big thing.

WHY?

Here is it....

From Doodle Zap To Drawing POW!

The doodler engages in a fantastic process of tapping into the reservoir of the imagination.

Doodlers are more happy more times when they are at it than when they are not. It looks like a recipe for longer happy times!

Doodling leads to drawing. Period.

There is a type of drawing that rewards the practitioners even more.

Watch and find out!

The Zap From A Doodle

I discovered doodling as a tool years ago to help to generate new shapes for myself. This method has many elements of surprises because it takes the imagination into unfamiliar visual territory. The result is a drawing that is fresh and interesting.

I am very glad to stumble upon another person who has taken this tool to another level. She does it it with an intellectual backing that is so persuasive.

Explore the perceptual benefits from watching this video on Sunni Brown.

TAPS Recalls That Forgotten Feeling

Some tune stays long after.

What has it that lingers in the deep part?

When it comes back, the same feeling re-awakens.

Melissa Venema plays TAPS ( Il Silenzio/ Silence). and the familiar feeling returns....

Mary Behind Christmas

Soon Christmas will be here. The signs are already present in most hyper-marts.

Christmas decors are being lavishly prepared to harvest the end of year sales.

Christmas has always been a time of abundance.

The real abundance of Christmas lies much deeper beyond the trading and owning of stuff.

The Pentatonics offers a sampling of this feast of abundance.



And a titbit that is sumptious.


Behind the spectacular sounds, is a pattern of movements. Take a look!

Old Is Good When You Can Get To It

Here is an unusual man.

After the intro by the chairman of the Aging Conference in Pasadena, there begins an unlease of laughter energy from....Fritz Colman, NBC 4's weathercaster, a broadcasting icon.

Enjoy his razor-sharp wit commenting on Aging.

The Multi-dimensional BOLERO Of Maurice Ravel

Bolero was originally composed by Maurice Ravel for a ballet for the Russian ballerina Ida Rubenstein.

It was premiered in 1928 and took on a life of its own to become a universal favourite.

I first heard this piece in Penang Hill at a retreat conducted by the DeLaSalle Brothers in 1963.

Just touching eighteen, it opened my feelings and my world view to the delight of music as therapy and meditation.

The DeLasalle Brothers were my teachers and mentors. From them I discovered the awesome world of continuous learning.

As the music builds, so has my own growth as a person.

To this band of amazing educators is BOLERO with love from a very appreciative student.

How To Get Up When Injured From falling

Timely tips for getting up for seniors who fall.

Wonderful common sense to ease pain and get help for the inevitable days when falling accidents will not be an exceptional experience.

Behind The Great Victor Borge.

There is more to Victor Borge than his talent.

Victor Borge is unique.

Pianist. Composer. Conductor. Songwriter. Entertainer. Actor. Comedian.

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark on 3 January, 1909, he became an American citizen during World War II.

His nicknames:
The Great Dane.
The Clown Prince Of Denmark.

Here are some of his striking pre-occupations:

He personally dismantles his piano part by part to have them re-assembled part by part in his attic.

Reason?

He couldn't practice his music with his family in the living room.

His voice advertises Heineken beer in the 1970s.

His classic line: "Heineken does this because it refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach".

He raised Rock Cornish hens in a very large farm.

There is acknowledgement that he developed the Rock Cornish  game hen industry in America almost single-handedly.

His Comedy In Music one-man show on Broadway had 849 performances, the longest solo run in Broadway history.

He was the recipent of the 22nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime contribution to arts and culture by Bill Clinton in Washington, DC, December 1999.

Memorable quotes:

Laughter is  the shortest distance between two people.

A woman complimenting me on my act one night told me she hadn't laughed so much since her husband died.

And I wish to remind you that the smile is the shortest distance between people. And the more we smile, the less we fight. Because to my knowledge, no one ever fought smilingly... and won. So not goodbye. Never goodbye. Just ...so long.

Once more the man:

Victor Borge Plays Clair De Lune

Victor Borge conducts Dance Of The Comedian