blues..

blues..
::every cloud has a silver lining:: @ ::天無絕人之路 ~:~ 明天會更好:: @ ::tiān wú jué rén zhīlù ~:~ míngtiān huì gènghǎo:: @ ::天無絕人之路 ~:~ 明天會更好:: @ ::tiān wú jué rén zhīlù ~:~ míngtiān huì gènghǎo:: @ ::every cloud has a silver lining::

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Dec 31, 2012

இ Alive and Kicking *2012*

Mmmmm ... Mmmmm ...I get wings to fly..Oh, oh ... I'm Alive sings Celine Dion...

Yeah oh yeah we are all alive after so much hoo-ha for the whole of 2012. Nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh take that whoever are responsible for the doomsday hoax, a fraud and a cruel and blatant lie scaring the hell out people that something terrible is going to happen, then publish books and videos on "how to survive the apocalypse" just like the same Y2K scare. The problem with people some how some will fall for the scam who tend believe it. They choose to waste their money buying fake information on "how to survive". Some people will buy worthless survival kits, and some will even buy spaces in shelters that are not going to be built - ever!. Rumours that electricity would be cut off with no water supply for weeks. So instant noodles is the number one hot favorite food stacked up, bursting the kitchen cabinet.

 

Fingers were all pointing at the Mayans for creating the chaos which to some experts defended that they did not prophecy or predict 2012 Doomsday. This day of 21- 12 -12 also happens to fall on the Winter solstice of the year. The Solstices is an astronomical event as well as one of the most important and major festivals celebrated by the Chinese and East Asians during the  冬至Dōngzhì Festival lit. the beginning of Winter solar term, a celebration for a bountiful harvest before taking a winter break and to begin again after the Spring festival which is the Lunar Chinese New Year.

 What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~ Albert Pike
Now that doomsday has caught everyone's attention we cannot deny the fact that death no longer exist to be swept under the carpet just because its dreadful word? There is some truth to this saying, “There are only two things you can count on in life: death and taxes.” Everyone experiences death. Death and dying are an inevitable part of human life.


The above word is 死 sǐ *die* a strictly no-no and a taboo among the Chinese community as most people must refrain from mentioning or hearing it as though the sound vibes could kill. Due to the homophones (sǐ ) for *die* sǐ  and number *4* 四 sì having the same sound most Chinese are shying away from this number but conveniently replacing it with 3A which is widely accepted.

 ❥Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.❥  ~ Jean Cocteau


Who said it's not the years you love but the life you live? (Answer is at the bottom.) Presume you shall live until 80 years old how well you plan to spend them wisely is entirely up to you. Time and tide waits for no man. 'You can't turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again'. ~ Prudden, Bonnie.






















❖And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.❖ ~ Abraham Lincoln


 ✤Dying is easy, it's living that scares me to death.✤ ~ Annie Lennox

These people from Ghana are indeed very open minded and creative. So have you ever thought of your own funeral or the coffin design before? Yeah some would definitely utter "choy choy choy" immediately. Only two person I know have done their afterlife arrangement while alive and kicking. As the saying goes "Why let your children go through Hell when you are in Heaven?". One is a Canadian blogger Uncle Lee and the other my late papa who had his grave and tomb completed at age 50 with a pre-booked ancient Chinese shamrock coffin made from huge, bulky and heavy chengal wood and he lived on till 92 years. Bananaz would love to have a coffin in the shape of a F1 race car, but then there may a slight technical problem. Accordingly Heaven refuse to accept Bananaz and Hell is afraid Bananaz will take over so where on space or earth is Bananaz gonna drive his F1 Formula car then? Be contented and make do with the banana shape coffin will do.

 ♔A very prestigious cardiologist died and was given a very elaborate funeral by the hospital he worked for most of his life...A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket during the service as all the doctors from the hospital sat in awe. Following the eulogy, the heart opened, and the casket rolled inside. The heart then closed, sealing the doctor in the beautiful heart forever.

At that point, one of the mourners just burst into laughter. When all eyes stared at him, he said, 'I am so sorry, I was just thinking of my own funeral... I'm a gynaecologist.
The vicar fainted.♔


Just another few more minutes to bid 2012 Goodbye, Bananaz would like to wish everyone a blessed 2013 with super abundance.


Dec 17, 2012

இ Heart♥Heart 心加心

Do you think with your head or act with your heart? It has been a long tradition we connect the mind with the brain. Other than the heart being a muscular organ, the size of a fist weighing about 300 grams that pumps blood,  the MDBG Chinese Dictionary also defines heart as mind / intention / centre / intelligence. So what the heck a heart has a mind or just a figure of speech? No argument here but to follow this saying 'follow your heart' where heart is driven by love and the analytical head is driven by logic and analytical.



Let's start the heart pumping with characters where its very common for Chinese in encompassing the heart to express emotional feelings. Frequently used words such as 'be careful' 小心xiǎo xīn literally *small heart*; 'worry' 擔心dān xīn lit. *carry heart*; 'relax' 放心fàng xīn lit.*release heart*; 'faith' 信心xìn xīn lit. *trust heart*.  In a state of 'happiness' 開心kāi xīn lit.*open heart* and 'sadness' 傷心shāng xīn lit. *injured heart*. There will be a never-ending  星星心心知我心 xīngxing xīn xīn zhī wǒ xīn lit. *stars heart heart knows my heart*.  Guess the word 心xīn *heart* has to stop here am afraid  some are beginning to see stars already.


source:www.chineseetymology.org
On the left is the etymology of the Chinese character 心xīn *heart* a close resemblance of a muscular heart. One will often hear this popular inspiring greetings in Chinese pinyin when wishing someone's success ~ 心想事成 xīn xiǎng shì chéng *lit. heart think matter/affair succeed* an equivalent to 'may your wishes come true'. Wonder if ever the movies maker decides to film another Star Wars sequel will they include this scene where Yoda in his squinty eyes softly utter to his new Chinese Jedi "May The Force 心xīn *Heart* Be With You".




Can the heart really dictate one’s actions? Here is an excerpt from scienceray.com "According to the Institute of Heartmath, Dr J Andrew Armour first introduced the concept of a functional 'heart brain' in 1991. His work revealed that the heart has a complex intrinsic nervous system, contains around 40,000 neurons that qualifies it as a 'little brain'. The heart communicates with the brain in ways that influence how we perceive and respond to stimulus coming from the outside world. The heart can even cause the brain to obey its commands hence has a mind of its own."

So can elements of a person's character - or even their soul - be transplanted along with a heart?  One woman who believes this is to be the case is CLAIRE SYLVIA after she was given the organs of an 18 year old boy, who was killed in a motor cycle accident. "I was given a young man's heart - and started craving beer and Kentucky Fried Chicken. My daughter said I even walked like a man" ~ Claire Sylvia  :Bananaz's Beleaf It Or Nought


Thought supposed to stop mentioning 心xīn *heart* however this is something not to be missed. The above word is "ài," the traditional Chinese character that clearly explains 愛 *Love* which has to be a combination of both the 心xīn *heart* and  situated right in the middle of the word  受shòu *accept*.  Any idea why a person with a broken heart is tossing and turning on bed all night long? The answer lies in the broken heart itself as the jagged edges of the heart keep poking at the body. Anyway enjoy the Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus below.

Nov 26, 2012

இ Men are fr♂m 陽 Yáng, W♀men are fr♀m 陰 Yīn

Image courtesy of newsilike 
Just before the eye 'open knife' Bananaz searched the internet and found so much more information of our human eye. What is the equivalent megapixels camera does the human eye have? Digital camera manufacturers capitalize their advertisements on their products' megapixels though may not always be the case of when more is better. A megapixel refers to the amount of pixels, or dots, captured in each picture. The word pixel is based on a contraction of pix (pictures) and el (for 'element'). Even the latest point-and-shoot digital cameras contain 8 to 16MP 'MegaPixels' of resolution, while some professional DSLR cameras contain over 20MP. Our human eye can handle approximately 576 megapixels. 

WhyAskWhy men are prone to suffer from CVD 'Colour Vision Deficiency' but not women?  Answer is simple because 'Men are from Yahoo *Yáng*陽, Women are from Goggle *Yīn*陰' haha. Actually the answer lies in the genes and the types of cones (Short, Medium & Long waves) which are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that are responsible for colour vision. Colour blindness is heredity, but only seemed to affect the men as one in 12 of them are colour blind compared to one in 255 womenIndividuals who are colour blind have only two types of cones, making them dichromatic and most animals are colour blind too. Most people have three types of cones described as being trichromatic. Some women may have more types of cones than men so they recognise colour differently because females have two (XX) chromosome while males have only one (XY) chromosome. Because of the X-linked trait an estimated 2-3% of women are considered tetrachormats as they may have a 4th cone. Wonder if women are colour blind what will happen to the cosmetics & fashion industry? Business will be just as good or worst?  



What about olfactory (sense of smell) sensitivity? According to BBC women have a greater ability to detect smell than men, and this may be linked to estrogen hormones. The structure of the nose is the same in women as men, and they don’t have any more receptors in the nose, but studies have shown smells activate a greater region in the brain in women than men. In one study, they were able to do better than men in differentiating between odors and picking up faint and slight odors. Saw one of our local TV advertisement regarding fresheners where the husband was lying comfortably in bed about to sleep until the wife hop on the bed to discover the bad odour of the bed sheet & pillow. Guess that advertising agency did their homework.

Once again not into any battle of the sexes with no superiority intended and end here with a joke: A guy donated blood to his girlfriend. When they broke up, he wanted his blood back. The girl threw a bloody pad at him and said, 'I'll pay you in monthly installments.' Don't play play must be extremely careful with ladies, they can bleed for a week but still survive.

 இ Your pupils dilate when you see someone you love. They also dilate when you see someone you hate ;(. ~ Bananaz Beleaf It Or Nought!

Oct 29, 2012

இ Open Knife ~ 開刀

What comes to mind ~ "I wanna go *open knife*" a direct word for word translation from Chinese? If you are Chinese probably will understand the message what *open knife* 開刀 *kāi dāo (pinyin)  is all about, the same equivalent to 'go under the knife'.  We can hardly hear this formal version in our daily conversation which is 動手術 dòng shǒushù (pinyin) meaning 'under going surgery' except over the news in TV or newspapers. Just curious any clue why Chinese say 開刀 kāi dāo *open knife*? Bananaz would like to express his sincere thanks for all the well wishes for a speedy recovery. With the current blurry vision, words gone awry when Uncle Lee pulled a fast one in giving away his Cadillac sending Bananaz to Cloud 9 but it was short lived as he was referring to the Cadillac cataract operation ;(.


'Open-ing knife'開刀 *kāi dāo*-ing

What Are Cataracts?

Cataract is a clouding of the eye's lens. The lens must be clear in order to focus light properly onto the retina. If the lens has become cloudy, this is called a cataract. Many people say that their vision with cataracts is similar to the effect of looking through a dirty car windshield. Click for more information EyeSmart.



Post Operation ~ Do's & Don'ts 

Conversation at the Hospital Dispensary:
Lady : Here's your two months supply of eye drops 3 different types, one drop 4 times a day at 5 minutes interval after each drop.
Bananaz : Before or after food? *chuckles*
Lady: Before & after also can.

Oct 3, 2012

இ NO iSee ~ 沒眼看

Dear ALL

"Eye Can't See Nobody...no.. eye cant see nobody. Mine eye can only look at Mango...".*Bee Gees* Sorry Bananaz will be out of action for a short while, can't see i2i shall be back pretty soon.

Warmest Regards
Love, Mango.





Eye Eye Mango! tQ. I'll Be Back..Bananaz

Sep 25, 2012

இ Fly Me To The Moon - 中秋節 ZhōngQiūJié

Jade Rabbit ~ Image courtesy of Wikipedia
During this 8th lunar month our mind would be beaming with delight to celebrate the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn Festival and sharing fairytales of the goddess of moon, Chang' e 嫦娥 with her jade rabbit, paper lanterns etc. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 30Sept2012 where it is a full moon on the lunar 15th moon. Psychiatrist Glenn Wilson found that the full moon has been portrayed in folklore and legends for centuries as cause for celebration, particularly in the times before modern lighting. "There is good reason to believe that people's personalities do change around the time of the full moon, not because of any astronomical force, but because it creates the optimum lighting conditions for feeling carefree and mischievous," Wilson told the paper.


The video above says it all you that want to know about the history and celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival way back in ancient China with some interesting facts of how mooncake was cut and eaten in the imperial palace plus more stories of jade rabbit and grandpa rabbit.




Heard this sweet song umpteenth times by the late Teresa Teng but did not realise its musical coherence with the poem until this date. The lyric is based on an existing prose by a famous Chinese writer Su Shi (蘇軾 1063-1101 AD) better know as  Su Dongpo (蘇東坡). It was written during full moon in the annual Chinese Harvest Moon Holiday, when he was sharing drinks with friends, having already been sabotaged by his political rivals, fallen out of favor on his official post in Imperial China, and narrowly escaped a death sentence. For those who love poems, history or wanting to know the lyrics of this wonderful sweet song click the below button for more details. tQ to my scripteaser sifu SK for the html coaching. 



Chang'e 嫦娥 ~ Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The late Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11, the first man who set foot on the moon on 20th July 1969 with this historic phrase "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" may have  missed the close encounter with Chang'e 嫦娥, wife of the legendary hero Hou Yi, a great archer who accomplished great achievements by shooting down nine extra suns. Chang'e 嫦娥 rose up to the sky immediately after drinking the elixir and lived on the moon ever since. However the State Council of China officially approved the launch of the lunar orbiting probe program in January 2004 and the leading engineering team named it "Chang'e Project".  At 18:05hrs October 24th, 2007, China's first self-developed lunar orbiting satellite "Chang'e One" blasted off successfully in Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Wishing All 中秋節快樂 Zhōng Qiū Jié Kuàilè Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Sep 13, 2012

இ WAKE


With less than only three days we would be looking forward to watch the assorted lanterns of all shapes and sizes to brighten up our streets after we bid farewell to the Hungry Ghost Month 鬼月 *Guǐ Yuè*. The most fearful 15th moon (full moon) of the 7th lunar month lunar where most Chinese believed the King of Hell opens the gates of hell allowing ghosts to visit the living world will be closed again on Sep 15, 2012.  When as a kid on the 15th moon (full moon) our old folks forbid us to roam the streets at night and we can only sing along with Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising and the chorus goes like this... "Don't go out tonight, well it's bound to take your life, there's a bad moon on the rise'.




Western people have Halloween festival with similarity to the Chinese celebrating the Hungry Ghost Festival having the same purpose to honor the deceased.  The Hungry Ghost festival originated from China since the Liang Dynasty in 502 AD, it was then evolved into the present ZhongYuan Festival 中元節 *zhōng yuán jié* .  Much have been said by bloggers HappySurfer & Panda Foong about this ghostly festival, you can read them HERE and HERE and HERE. When we talked about ghost, death is closely associated and goes hand in hand. Both words are a strictly NO-NO particularly in this ghost month.  



image courtesy of www.themeapicture.com

This ghostly month Bananaz has attended two Chinese funerals, one Christian and the other Taoist and was wondering is there any correlation between death and Hungry Ghost Month?. These two funerals were before 15th moon (full moon) and hearsay if any seriously sick or dying person who can pull through the 15th moon will not likely to die soon. How true? As usual in funerals we have this traditional 'Wake' ceremony used to be held in the house of the deceased but as the years go by modern memorial parlours have mushroomed through out the country and gaining popularity among the public. According to Wikipedia 'wake' has evolved into the word "watch," and it is in this sense that people have a "wake" for someone who recently died. While the modern usage of the verb "wake" is "become or stay alert" meaning, a "wake" for the dead harks back to the antiquated "watch" or "guard" sense. This is contrary to the urban legend that people at a wake are waiting in case the deceased should "wake up". My grandma (mom's mother) woke up couple of minutes later after my mom and relatives dressed her up in those longevity dresses for the dead when she was pronounced dead by doctor. She lived for more than a decade thereafter the incident. Cannot imagine the helter-skelter if she should 'wake up' after placing her corpse into the casket. It is customary for Chinese to offer donation in a form of cash literary known as 'white gold' 白金 *bái jīn* or some may prefer giving a wreath. Colours are used to differentiate bereavement or wedding celebration thus 紅白喜事 *hóng bái xǐ shì* weddings & funerals. The red 紅 *hóng* signifies wedding and white 白 *bái* refers to funerals. 

Feb 2, 2012

இ HIATUS

Sorry fellow bloggers and dear readers Bananaz is going on hiatus as advised by ma lovely ophthalmologist after the double shot of RED eye pre-CNY has affected Bananaz right eye which posed a challenge to focus too long on the computer screen. Would be out of action for a while as not to stress too much but hopefully can steal some time blog hopping and littering ma peels. Not too sure whether the focusing caused the splitting headaches or the CNY heat. Will need to get a new set of spectacle lens once the red eye is fully recover to go full swing again.Smiley

In all honesty, I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky and I swear like the shadow that's by your side, I claim ma innocence that the RED eye was due to allergy and not caused by peeping at gorgeous girls and certainly not 眼紅*yǎn hóng* [eye* red] ie green* with envy that you guys reaped heap$ and ton$ of $$$ from gambling during CNY or receiving fat bonuses. [Aiyayo quite confusing here, who's is color blind?. For jealousy the Chinese uses '*Red' but in English its '*Green']. No wild thoughts pleaze...hehehe ~;).

Have a Great Dragon Year and Happy Chap Goh Meh!

Jan 23, 2012

இ Enter the Dragon ~ 恭喜發財


http://www.glitteryourway.com!

We cannot Drag-on for too long gotta bid goodbye 兔tù-gether to the Rabbit and usher in the Dragon@Jan23, 2012. May the Year of the Dragon breathe fire and passion into everything you do. Wishing You Good Health, Great Wealth, Success, Happiness and in perfect Harmony with the Universe.

*fú* ~ meaning happiness | good fortune | good luck | a blessing | bliss. For those celebrating Chinese New Year this word is the most popular besides the dragon in almost every household or shops. You see it everywhere, on angpow packets, paperbags, hampers, lanterns, greeting cards whatnot. They are hanging or pasted on walls or at strategic location as advised by fengshui master. Some people do believe that by placing the word 福 *fú* upside down would bring them good luck as fortune some how will drop in. How true? *Gong*Xi*Fa*Cai*

Addendum: Thanks to Casendra for shedding some light on the inverted 福*fú* as *dào* is a homophone word for either 倒*dào*[invert] or 到*dào*[arrive]. Thus for fortune 福*fú* to arrive which is 福到 *fú dào* the inverted 福*fú* represents a combination of invert/arrive.



Emoticon Banana bailando

Jan 8, 2012

இ Oohs and Aahs

Now Everyone Can Sing! You do not need to know any Chinese or lyrics at all. How about singing this song in your next karaoke session all you need is [..]
a--o,a--o e, a se di, a se do, a se da g3 di g3 do, a se di, a se da g3 do, a--[a yi ya yi yo,] a se di g3 [dai, da g3 dai, da g3 dai, da g3 da g3 di g3 dai, da g3 dai, da g3 do,][..] Not possible? A Yi Ya Yi Yo some are not completely convinced? Bananaz Beleaf It Or Not..Have a go..click on the video clip for the Oohs and Aahs. The lyrics doesn’t mean a thing only “嗯、哦、唉、哟……”. Basically this song tries to mimic by showing faces of a happy person, sad, anger and so on. She is sensational and delivers it superbly.



Imagine a song without lyrics could win her the Best Singing Award of European World Music Awards in 2009. It became a hit on December 1, 2010 during a Grammy Award presentation and remained as the Grammy's best music for three weeks and the song name is 忐忑 pinyin:*tǎntè* meaning "Disturbed or Uneasy". She is a Chinese folk music soprano singer who hails from Guizhou Province. Her name is Gong Linna 龚琳娜, born in Guiyang in 1975, who won the Best Female Singer at China Central Television National Young Singer TV Grand Prix in 2000. It was in 2010 where hundreds of thousands of netizens watched her video clip singing 忐忑*tǎntè* that took China by storm.
呀~屙
呀~哦er
牙線丁牙細東
牙細達街跌格洞
牙細D 牙細達街凍

呀~屙
呀~哦er
牙細丁 牙細東
牙細達街跌格洞
牙細D 牙細達街凍

呀呀呀呀呀呀
哎也唷 哎也唷
牙細跌格底 牙架底 牙架底
達架底架跌架底
達架底 達架董

底 達架底 達架底
達架底架跌架底
達架底 達架董
哎依也依唷

Some interesting 'discovery' while doing up this post with the two Chinese words. By itself 忐 and 忑 ma favorite companion the MDBG dictionary translated both as 'nervous' but when combined 忐忑 pinyin:*tǎntè* it means "Disturbed or Uneasy".

Noticed the word 忐*tǎn* where it comprises of 'Up上*shàng*' at the top and 'Heart心*xīn*' as the lower word.  Now look at 忑*tè* the 'Up' has been replaced with 'Down下*xià*' on top of 'Heart心*xīn*'. So the Ups and Downs inevitably perturbed the Heart resulting a 'disturbed or uneasy' person.

Cutest little 6 year old Chinese girl - on China's Got Talent with her 忐忑 pinyin:*tǎntè*. The pretty judge asked her why she chose a song without lyrics. Little girl replied saying there is except they are 亂七八糟 *luàn qī bā zāo* 'everything in disorder'. Sorry Bananaz not able to translate the full conversation but judging by the faces of laughter with tears you shall get the message, coz actions speak louder than words. Kindly standby your tissue paper after you ROTFL *roll on the floor laughing* when your heart is perturbed.


Emoticon Banana tocando la guitarra

Jan 5, 2012

இ ATM PIN # Reversal

We progressed over the centuries with the state-of-the-art Internet Technology where information could be transmitted enormously at lightning speed merely by word-of-mouse. Just zooming in at a small portion of internet regarding em@ils where '@' is part and parcel of our mundane life. Emails that are in circulation ranges from A-Z comprises of the good, bad and ugly. Some are informative and some educational however there are bound to attract Big Ghost Head  大鬼頭 pinyin:*dà guǐ tóu* a common ghostly name used among the Chinese community for mischievous leader. They start the mouse rolling sending viral hoax emails as per their whims and fancies around the globe like those hand written chain letters of the past. Gratitude highlighted a few randomly in his last post "It's a sad sad life!" where he ended up perplexed  and said ~ "I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery." You are not alone Gratitude, it's indeed a bewilderment if we were to follow all the emails received, we can't eat, drink or sleep in peace.

Recently a nagging email which appeared few years ago re-surfaced again and hope this entry may shed some light and may save lives. Please do not follow the tactic below and put a stop in forwarding, it's a HOAX.

Subject: ATM Pin Number reversal tactic
If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your PIN in reverse. For example, if your pin number is 1234, then you would put in 4321. The ATM system recognizes that your PIN number is backwards from the ATM card you placed in the machine. The machine will still give you the money you requested, but unknown to the robber, the police will be immediately dispatched to the location. [...].

Bananaz have checked with a banker friend whose answer is self explanatory.. "If you key-in your pin numbers wrongly for three times, your ATM card will be 'eaten' by the machine. So what is the difference if you key-in your pin number in reverse". Kindly check it out with snoopes.com as they have confirmed its FALSE in their title "PINned Hopes". The system was patented in 1998 but nothing came of it as it was not viable. Totally agree with this quote by Chuck Stones of the Kansas Bankers Association in 2004 ~ "I'm not sure anyone here could remember their PIN numbers backward with a gun to their head". Another alternative website for checking on hoax is truthorfiction.com.


On a brighter side let's relax, have some fun with this cute ATM machine. Credit goes to the original artist for the great sense of humor. Wonder any bank may wish to buy this brilliant idea to generate more transactions. Anyway guys.. dream on!! (If you have a challenge with the wordings pleaze press 'Ctrl' & '+').


Emoticon Banana bailando

 
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