deepavali strikes again

This week is unique. The Hindu community celebrated their Diwali celebrations, albeit in a rather hurried sense of festivities, which were quickly dwarfed by the rather more grandiose celebrations of the Hari Raya.

I came up with a corny joke, here it is:

Q: What do you get when you put Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya together?
A: A happy, deeper, hairy valley! Oh, selamat menyelam, ya!



Well, my friend came up with another.

Q: When you put Hari Raya and Chinese New Year together, what do you get? Kongsi Raya. Well, what do you get if you put Chinese New Year and Deepavali together?

A: Kongsi Gelap.



Whew... It's been a long day indeed. Currently unwinding to sounds of "Latino Pop" on board the Yahoo Messenger internet based radio. Ah.. Sergio Dalma, "Mi Historia Entre Tus Dedos". Nice. A raspy voice very much like Tom Waits. What's with the raspy voices that make people feel soothed? I wonder. The gravelly swing of Louis Armstrong. The heartfelt of Creed's lead singer.

Now the song's shifted, and I've skipped several. Hey, it's 4.20am. I can't be hip-hopping to the bebopping verbal skills of N.O.R.E, not that I mind rap but it's rather late. Time for a breather. A song that really lets things settle, lets the dust settle, and lets the water find its own level. (Aside: Someone once told me, forget about the law, just do the law, and don't worry about clients and work. Let the water find its own level. To which I wondered, what if the water finds its level above my head? Too deep inside...)

And I'm currently drifting mentally. The sounds of Enrique Iglesias, "Adicto". Hmm, where have I heard this number before? It's been translated to English, I think. But the refrain is lovely. "Na, na na na na na.. Na, na na na na na..." A surreal organ plays the strings, whisking the mind to an aural landscape of shifting hues and shapes.

Oh... it's late. 4.38am, time for me to get some rest.

There was a time when computer games fascinated me. But things have changed. The games we play as adults, these are very different. We play them in real time, not in virtual time (where days pass by in a matter of minutes). We play with money and our emotions, our life's raw materials. Our every effort is devoted to achieving the grand goal of -- what? The grand goal of happiness, that's what. I've been informed that man gravitates towards pleasure and shies away from pain.

Sin Bandera - "Mientes Tan Bien". Gorgeous music. Must remember to download it from KaZaA.

Anyway. The thing about games in adulthood.. it's hard to see things as games, unless you actually gear yourself up to see it that way. But adolescents tend to be fascinated with "getting laid" and "getting to third base" -- things they imagine that adults engage in frequently. But it just doesn't happen. instead they learn about "adulthood" through strange devices. For example: