Katy Perry isn't E.T.

Most of us love or hate pop music, one way or another. I listen to current pop music only when I need an adrenaline rush to get things done real quick. If not, most times I would prefer oldies like Louis Armstrong or Beatles or the more "oldie" metal bands like Metallic and AC/DC. Yeah, sometimes I'm really so old soul or old school, as some of you might prefer to call it.

So, Katy Perry's E.T. music is kinda fresh, but no doubt is a music video "cat-fight" against Lady Gaga who is this generation's Madonna with a penchant for fashion re-invention and the likes. Although I have to admit honestly, Katy Perry sometimes do offend a little with the choice of writing music. Take for instance, Ur So Gay was rumored to have been written in response to Tokio Hotel winning a particular award that Katy had her eyes set on.

But enough of that pop bickering amongst the celebrities. What I'm going to talk about is mainly Katy Perry's E.T. music video here. If you have not watched it yet, just click the Play button that I've already embedded in this blog spot. Try to remember as much as you can about Katy's music, the scenes in the video being the utmost importance here. Now that you have, here's what I'm going to say.

Katy Perry's "definition" of an E.T. , a.k.a Extra Terrestrial is actually a Baobhan Sith. Why so, you might ask and wonder all at the same time? It's really easy peasy explaining. Remember how I asked you, my beloved reader, to watched Katy Perry's video that I've embedded in this post and that you should try to remember the scenes featured in her video?

Most times, Katy's legs were covered in long flowing gowns in the video itself. If you compared this part to the legend of the Baobhan Sith, both "have deer hooves for feet, which they keep hidden under the dress". And then finally, at the end of the music video, we can all clearly see that Katy Perry's rendition of an E.T. is a person with a human upper body and deer hooves for her legs.

No doubt, Katy is a beautiful woman by any means. Back to the Baobhan Sith lore, "A baobhan sith has the form of a beautiful woman in a green dress". Next, Katy's E.T. self is in a place where it's far away from human population, or rather to a place where there's no visible sign of society existance, then to Baobhan Sith lore again, "Once a year she arises from her grave to feed on young men by night in forests or other natural places away from society". Katy's E.T. has really long and sharp looking fingernails, and for the Baobhan Sith lore, "it seems they use sharp fingernails." By now you can see all the seemingly familiar "connections" between Katy's E.T, and the Baobahn Sith or lore. Too much, you suppose?

Yeah, the Baobhan Sith is actually the new E.T. We've all been either fooled by science fiction writers through and through or Katy has convinced all of mankind that Baobhan Sith are in fact extra terrestrials at some point.

Points noticed once more for double checking:

• Long dress covering lower torso - Checked


• Both have deer hooves for leg/feet - Checked


• Form of a beautiful woman - Checked


• Almost no sign of human population - Checked


• Long and sharp fingernails - Checked


• E.T. and Baobhan Sith being almost "supernatural" to comprehend - Checked

But for the record, if you're curious to read about Katy's E.T. music video from another perspective, try Andrew's Blog: What is Katy Perry's E.T. about?

Site is not working?

I have been seeing this notice on EntreCard upon logging in for the past 1-2 weeks. Apparently, they claimed that my blog isn't working and I had to fixed it. Despite not posting between a few days to the previously few months to a year, I never once took down my blog for whatsoever reasons unannounced. Even if it comes to the point where I'm changing my blog URL to something fitting of the layout, I would let everyone know by making a post about it (while at the same time ensuring no one else gets a hold of my old blog address to create a troll blog, trust me, I've encountered it once before).

So, I logged in to EntreCard and immediately sent in a ticket explaining that my blog is still working as per usual, and that I've never taken it down. Instead, I got a reply in my email as follows:

Your account '-Chopsticks- The One And Only Original Chopsticks Blogger' on entrecard.com has been warned. The administrator provided the following message:

Site is not working. Please correct this by September 20, 2011 to avoid being removed from the EntreCard circulation.

Please contact support@entrecard.com if you have any questions regarding this warning.

PLEASE NOTE: You are expected to resolve this issue promptly. Failure to do so will result in the removal
of your Entrecard account.

Please include the following:
User ID: *****

Like, major big ouch here. Either they're using the wrong Internet browser or their site is not working. My blog is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox, not Google Chrome please >.<

Anyone one of you guys on Entrecard encountered such a situation before? Please comment and shed some light for me since that message has been on up till now whenever I logged in. Thanks in advance too~

2 lives lost to tragedy

I haven't been posting for a couple of days partly because I was eagerly following the news report recently of a mother and her son's corpse found floating face-down while holding on to her son, right in Singapore's Bedok Reservoir. They are respectively 31-year-old Madam Tan Sze Sze and three-year-old Jerald Chin Le Hui.

What ultimately drives someone to the brink of suicide, even contemplating on doing this act with their own children who might not even be too young to understand what went wrong with their parents. What could have went through both mother and son's mind when their lungs were rapidly filled with water, what with the mother trying not to surface to breathe or even scream for help and young Jerald's mind as he could probably be trying to break free from his mother's grasp from all that's happening.

Marriage is forever and till do us part in death. And even though both Madam Tan and her husband had marriage woes, it's totally selfish to just seek death with her son in tow. Little Jerald has such a long and bright future ahead of him, considering that he's only a mere 3-year-old child. Even if it comes to the point where both parties in a marriage has to settle for a divorce, it shouldn't have come to 2 deaths, with 1 being wrongly cast into the shadows of the dead.

Sometimes when I come across such newspaper reports, I cannot help but wonder. Exactly what were these people, especially the one who committed suicide was thinking when they did such an act with their own child whom they carry in their womb for so many months only to snuff out a small live due to another person's infidelity or mistakes. I believe no one has the right to take away someone else's live even if they're on the brink of despair.

And the worst heinous act of this atrocity? TNP happily reported how little Jerald's playmate was struggling through his untimely funeral. What in the hell is wrong with TNP? This is a family grieving for lost loved ones, a family who needed final closure in the darkest moments of their lives. And there TNP were, gleefully snapping photos of Shaun Tan (Jerald's cousin and playmate) struggling to hold back his tears as he performed the final rites for his dead cousin. This is not something a child this young has to go through at an early stage. Losing someone they loved and cared about, and to make this process even more difficult, photographers snapping photos because they needed to do a report.

Can't the media at least grow some sort of brain tissue in their head to at least do a private interview while at the same time being mindful that there is a family grieving for 2 lives that cannot be returned? Even if there is a need to fulfill their reporting duties, couldn't they have at least published this news on the Internet instead of splashing it out on the front page of a dumb tabloid newspaper, dearly titled TNP?

Please TNP, have some respect for the dead and their grieving family.

For full news report, go to News Report @ AsiaOne

iPhone Woe

Ah, the wonders of auto-correct in iPhones. Some are hilarious, some amusing. But this takes the cake. Father hacks kid's iPhone just to rename his name as "DarthVader" just for the sole purpose of saying that 1 famous line, "Luke, I'm your father". Although the pre-requisite for this joke must insist that your kid happened to be named Luke for the joke to work.

Talking about cellphones, I'd possibly like to change mine. I had once talked about my LG phone in an old post previously. But for those who are unaware of how it looks like, here goes:



It's the LG ice cream phone, reason why it's called ice cream phone is because the colors look like ice cream. The #1 reason why I am considering of having a phone change is that, sometimes, my phone just hangs for no apparent reason. And the only way to "reset" it would be to slip off the back cover, pull out the battery and replace it. Sometimes, it doesn't work, and I'd have to pull out the battery once more and replace it again. And when I do that, I lose all the contacts on my phone. When I say all, I mean ALL!

It really does get frustrating at times when I saved important phone numbers inside, including the twitter number. This means I have to practically hunt down my numbers just so I can re-programmed it back into the phone. I have no clue why it hangs so much. And just 2 days ago, I realized that my phone doesn't ring or even vibrate after I set the alarm. As soon as the time comes, it lights up. That's all. And after that hoo-ha, it hang again...

Basically, this ice cream phone series from LG is more on looks, and maybe the technology to take really good pictures due to the high-resolution camera. Other than that, practicality-wise with so much hang issues, I'd definitely not buy another ice cream phone again.

Although at present, I'm kind of eyeing this baby here. Still by LG no doubt, it's called the LG Cookie Cube C320i. I know I tend to go for phones that are named after food. But then, at least the pink isn't so baby pink. The other good thing about this LG Cookie Cube C320i phone is that, it's not iPhone so no worries on the auto-correct issue you see right at the top of this post. Instead, I kinda like it for the fact that:

Features convenient Push Email functionality that keeps you socially networked at all times and also optimized features for texting and web browsing including various SNS native clients such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Windows Live™ Instant Messenger. Supports FM Radio and features Video Recording and 2MP Camera that prepare you to capture every special moment in life.

Definitely a good choice for on-the-run-twitter moment. What do you think?

About Aokigahara

After a little thinking and deliberation, I realized that the previous post might probably steer towards the occult/paranormal. And so, I think I'll post up 2 videos that are somehow but not 100% related to Aokigahara to lighten up the mood. Don't worry, there's English subtitles available in the video itself. Enjoy!





And also, don't forget to check out mars and venus... actually for the latest post and many more interesting posts to come.

Forest of Death

And so, back to my Tumblr blog. I've previously uploaded an image of this controversial book along with a movie made about this book:



This book is written by Wataru Tsurumi. First published on July 4 1993, this book provides explicit descriptions and analysis on a wide range of suicide methods such as overdosing, hanging, jumping, and carbon monoxide poisoning. But never anywhere in this book discourages its readers from attempting suicide.

And everyone probably thought that this would be the 1st and final volume ever published. However after much intense criticism and debate, the author subsequently published the second book, Our "Complete Manual of Suicide which includes fan letters and hate mail the author had received.

The reason why I thought this place where people actually go all the way just to commit suicice (a.k.a Aokigahara Forest / Sea of Trees) seemed really familiar is because I've previously watched this Hong Kong movie starring Ekin Cheng and Shu Qi (directed by one of the famous Pang brothers, Danny Pang). The movie title itself is called Forest of Death.



The summary of the plot/place is really reminiscent of Aokigahara. Incidentally, Aokigahara was never meant to be a place for suicides to go to just for the sake of committing suicide (You can pretty much only hang yourself if you really want to commit suicide in a forest, I suppose). What started it off is due to a 1960 novel written by Seichō Matsumoto, called Nami no Tō (波の塔). At the end of this novel, the 2 protagonists commited suicide in a forest called Aokigahara. And that is where it's reputation took off. However, surprise surprise, the history of suicide in Aokigahara predates the novel's publication, and the place itself has long been associated with death: ubasute may have been practiced there into the 19th century, and the forest is reputedly haunted by the ghosts of those left to die.

What is ubasute, you may wonder? Back in the old days, there is this custom where an infirm or elderly relative was carried to a mountain, or some other remote, desolate place, and left there to die, either by dehydration, starvation, or exposure. Presumably to save money on official funeral rites. Back in the old days, most common folk were not really rich to begin with and only rich folks like samurais, daimyos for example were probably the only people who can afford to have funerals, whether they are big or small. And what do the common folk with no money for burial do? They just simply carry their elderly, preferrably those who do not have long to live, or have been sick for so long they do not have a chance of recovery form their illness, deep all the way into the mountains and left them there to die.

But exaclty why did I feel that Aokigahara and Forest of Death have so much in common? There is just 1 simple reason for it.

If you ever go to Aokigahara in person or just simply watch a YouTube video, you probably would have noticed signages put up by people, volunteers telling suicidal people that "Your life is a precious gift to you by your parents. Treasure it" for example.



In the movie, Forest of Death and according to Amazon:

"In this mind-twisting thriller from the creators of "The Eye" and "Re-cycle," a dark forest known for causing mysterious deaths becomes the focus of a recent savage murder. A homicide detective, a botanist researching the paranormal, and his tabloid TV reporter girlfriend each embark on a treacherous journey to the heart of this "Forest of Death," where a chilling revelation awaits them all."

What I've watched from this movie is that, there is this old forest guard who constantly goes around making up handmade signs telling suicidal people that "Your life is precious", "Nothing is unsolvable in this world" and such signages to deter people from killing themselves. Ring a bell now? In the movie, this old forest guard's daughter comitted suicide in the "Forest of Death" due to a failed relationship and he believes the soul of his dead daughter still lingers in there, unable to cross over to the other side. Hence, he decided to stay within the forest and take up the selfless duty of erecting all those signages to deter people from killing themselves.

What makes Aokigahara such a scary, or maybe unique place? All these deaths and suicides, may they be intentional or not, creates some sort of warped atmosphere that makes the whole place take on a life by itself. What started as a beautiful forest transformed into a place that seems alive, eager to "trap" people who might not even have the initial intention to end their lives. It is a huge place, all 35 km2 of it. Even though there are actual paths for curious folks who dare go all the way there for some Look-see, it is fairly easy to lose your bearings and find yourself totally lost inside the forest itself. That's why I said that it has a life of it's own, bent on increasing more deaths than before.

People who buy a one-way ticket all the way to Aokigahara to commit suicide, there are maybe 2 types of them. The 1st are the ones who are insistent on ending their lives once and for all and they really do go all the way deep into the forest so as to prevent being found while in the midst of hanging themselves. As for the 2nd type, they are still hesistant. And this is why one can see ropes starting from one tree to another tree inside the forest. In the event these people decide against killing themselves, they can simply find their way out of the forest with the rope they wound around the trees or paths. Like a breadcrumb trail to safety.

Finally, as much as Hong Kong is good for making horror movies like these, at least they didn't come up with a chinese or cantonese version of the The Complete Manual of Suicide.

Phew!

Thank you for the Likes and Reblogs

From: Remembering 911 on Chopsticks blog to Chopsticks: Online & Offline @ Tumblr. A big THANK YOU to the tumblr users who took the time to find that post and reblog it for everyone else.

If you're still unaware, I do have a photo- and quote-based blog over at Tumblr: Chopsticks: Online & Offline. Heck, you can even follow me on Tumblr to check out the latest photo-happenings I find while surfing the Internet.

mars and venus... actually

mars and venus... actually is a female-mostly lifestyle blog I've started up around 2 years back. Although the articles in there are mostly geared towards a female readership, this doesn't necessarily mean that male readers can't get a good amount of information from it too. There are definitely some good articles in there which my female readers can definitely share their their male acquaintances like friends, colleagues, neighbors and even male bloggers on the blogosphere.

All the articles over at mars and venus... actually is also a good source for male readers to get a better understanding on how women think and act too.

And you all know what's awesome about it, it's coming back. Watch out for the latest and newest post after such a long hiatus, coming straight at you on 18 September 2011. Yes, this year lol. So, remember to bookmark your calendars for this important date. What topic will it be? I'll let you, my dear readers, find out on 18 September itself.

Remembering 911

Image © candleandribbon.org

Let us take a brief moment of silence and remember those lost in the September 11 attacks.

Let us not forget those who sacrifice their lives in order to save others.

Let us not forget that terrorism is not the solution in any possible worst case scenario.

And let us not forget those who worked hard day and night looking for survivors who might miraculously survive in this horrific incident.

R.I.P to those who have perished for you are not forgotten.

ZOMG! Do you like carrots?

LOL! Checked around and managed to find at least 1 paid "blogpost" after so many sites >_< Better than nothing, although I really have to admit that the questions asked in dNeero are getting kind of weird and nonsensical all along.

Other than that, kindly bear with me kind readers as I try somehow to get all my "paid-to-blog" accounts up and working again. Basically, there are quite a lot that kept asking me to blog about casinos, sex toys, etc. I really really have no interest to blog about these stuffs that are totally not related to my blog at all. I ended up getting mildly angry and kinda went M.I.A on my blog(s) >_<

I know it's really irresponsible to just went off without saying anything. But it's even more annoying to log to these "paid-to-blog" sites just to decline offers on casinos, gambling and alcohol related jobs..

1st post on tumblr

Well, after some good soul-searching and almost close to “abandoning” my blog, I’ve come up with this decision. I will still blog, but stuffs I found while surfing the Internet, I’d mostly post them up on tumblr here: http://puniao.tumblr.com/

Instead of just lumping everything onto my blog, and thus making the loading time even longer. Blog-wise, I’m going to try keeping it to what it is supposed to be, a blog with loads of text. Yes, long boring text that mostly scares off readers who don’t like to read long lines of text.

Let’s face it, that’s what a blog is for. Text, text and more text. But meaningful nonetheless. But using this tumblr site as a 2nd substitute blog for photos found on the Internet to the ones I snapped in real life, it won’t bog down my blog. As mentioned in the 2nd paragraph, my blog is taking way too long to load due to the insane amount of photos I’ve found here and there.

So, remember to bookmark this tumblr site along with my blog address. It’s going to take some time, but everything will be nicely classified in a sense that one portal is for everday life-sharing moments while the other is a everday-photo sharing moments.

And in case you all forgot the URLS, here they are again:

Chopsticks: Photo - http://puniao.tumblr.com/

Chopsticks: The One And Only Original Chopsticks Blogger - http://sexybluemame.blogspot.com/

Last but not least, Mars And Venus… Actually ( http://marsnvenusactually.blogspot.com/ ) isn’t abandoned too. I’ve realised that uploading a post every week leaves me, quite frankly, close to zilch when it comes to sharing. So, I’ve taken the same amount of time “abandoning” my blog to also brainstorm on how much time should I leave in between posts. 2 weeks interval or 1 month interval? Something like a online magazine, since 1 month seems a bit tad too long for readers who do want the next post and are curious about it. Whereas new post per 2 week interval seems almost like I’m uploading weekly, which practically makes no difference. Sounds confusing, huh?

Coming up with posts (for Mars And Venus… Actually ) has been ongoing while I wasn’t online to blog or even do anything. It’s better than to try and rush out a post at breakneck speed when i could have taken some time to slowly but steadily come up with something.

So, stay tuned while I worked out some more stuffs with regards to my blog(s) and such.

Sincerely,

Pu Niao