Handphone Photography

Hello and welcome!

In this next post...I have kept up a more frequent updating schedule! So for 3 weeks we haven't seen a month long delay! Anyway, that's lame.

Well, this entry's about 2 photos I have taken on my handphone! Yes, Joshua doesn't use the big-black-can-kill-people-if-thrown camera all the time.

Road Plants:

Well, during my traffic duties in Newton Kindergarten, I found some small little plants that grew out of the brick road at the front of the church:


Since young, I was always fascinated by these plants. There is no one to put soil in there, to fertilize the soil, to plant the seeds correctly and it is exposed to the weather (and maybe car tyres)...more or less the plants had everything against them. (or so it seems)

And yet they can grow! And more then that...they can be found in a lot of places other plants couldn't have survived! An added plus is that they have really nice little delicate flowers too.

Kinda reminds me of the story of seeds and good ground in the Bible. We are like the seeds of these plants and there are many places we could end up. On the brickroad, in the gut of an animal, snuffed out by other weeds and so on.

Yet, if we land in the good soil in between the cracks...and if we persevere on we can become like these amazing plants. Not only survive the harsh conditions, and prosper in the middle of it at the same time!

What is this soil in our lives? That is the nourishing Word of God...it doesn't solve physical hungers. It gifts us wisdom in life's true spiritual hungers. Do you recognize the inner need for spiritual health? I hungered and the Bible has fed me well. It continues to be the book to read daily!

Misleading Vending Machine Ad

On a lighter note...I noticed this advertisement for Heaven and Earth tea.

I apologize for the poor quality...as it is low light and camera phones are not great cameras regardless of megapixels (Mathematically it is a square function. So 5MP vs 8MP is an invisible difference. You need a 25MP camera to see the difference, and none of us have one yet).

Can visit this webbie to take a look: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm


What is wrong with this ad?

1) It is a bottled drink on the machine that sells cans.
2) There is no bin/chute on the machine (look at bottom)

It's just nitpicking and I am not saying here that Heaven and Earth is bad tea or something. I do not drink it and I think drinking tea is good for your health. Better than drinking coke haha.

Well, I have to go now and see you soon on this little corner of the internet. Have fun out there and remember, eating vegetables is good for your health also.

Jesus loves you,
Joshua

Uncle Josh

Hello Surfer!

In this more frequent entry to my blog's that collecting dust, I'd like to give you the warmest welcome your computer screen can afford!

I am currently helping out in Newton Kindergarten as a traffic warden, and as one you get to see lots of stuff. I just got sprayed by a kid with a water gun today. Yesterday, I was a good 50m away from an accident (involving 4 vehicles) and yet I didn't see it.

Truthfully, I thank God for this job.

Don't get me wrong, this job can be quite tiring, even though it doesn't sound much. The kindergarten had some difficulty in getting parents to obey the traffic rule in front of the church: No drop off and pick up. Senior Pastor is quite firm on this.

As a traffic warden, I get to see the 'ugly' side of Singaporean adults. I agree that they are putting their child's interest first and I respect that. No one can disagree that a child's safety is of paramount importance, and it would be good to follow the rule to ensure the safety of everyone else.

Thing is...I received very different reception from other parents and help I have received. Some have been quite supportive and they make my day great :) The church staff have been great. However, some adults ignore me (while breaking the rule), and some justify themselves in a heated way. Fortunately for now, the situation is stable and all the drivers have been obeying the rule well.

Interestingly...I am being called 'uncle'! Do I look that old?


You may think that's because I am 16 years older than some of the children, but even their parents call me that! Not the 'kor kor' (older brother) I am accustomed to, but a term I myself use for older people. Man I am getting old.

Well, I've gotta go now and dive back to real life. Have fun out there and God Bless.

Joshua

A Young View on Cover Versions

Hi there,

Well, if you all are detectives you would instantly find out that I have not updated this blog for a very long time. Don't worry, I won't waste your time by apologizing, and I will say I have been busy as of late. I am helping out in the church kindergarten (not garden) part time, taking photos during the weekend (and processing + uploading them) and settling other admin stuff.

This was some random thought I had since young, and I'd like to share it here. It has been ringing in my head recently.

A Thought on Music

(about lower primary school I think)

Last time when I was young, I didn't know much about music. Jazz, pop, rock and classical were perhaps the only genres I could think of and I wondered why Singapore needed so many radio stations.

Since there are so many people making music, there is only a finite number of notes you can put in one piece. In the future, there's a good chance everybody would have made music that used most of the ways you can put the notes together to make a catchy tune.

Thing is, I also theorized that music writers cannot use music that sounds similar to others. So I posed a big question to myself:

What happens if there is no more music to write?

I immediately began thinking of Michael Jackson (one of the few artistes I knew of due to my exposure to my aunt's LDs), and thought of a song I knew: 'Mary had a Little Lamb'.

Since there might be no new music in the future, why not sing the old ones in a different way? People might find an old song 'new'.

So ta-da! I imagined Michael Jackson singing 'Mary had a Little Lamb' with his screeching voice without any instruments! Just his voice...and I thought they might just do that in the future.

Picture from allposters.com

In Retrospect

Little did I know that musicians have been doing cover versions of other hits. My dad listened to James Taylor's 'You've Got a Friend', and that was actually first performed by Carol King. Before hearing of Carol King, I always thought James Taylor was the original writer of the hit.

That also brought me to realising something: When we listen to music since young, we take it as the original version. When we hear the original, it sounds 'funny' to us and we might have the impulse to reject it as the copy!

I guess it is good to know the history behind music we all listen and hum to. Sometimes, the story behind the track is as fascinating as the lyrics themselves. The rights for ABBA's "Chiquitita" is owned by UNICEF.

www.songfacts.com is a good place to start, and Destiny's Child has the Bee Gees to thank for 'Emotion'.

Musically Untalented
Joshua