Regine Velasquez and Anggun

At first, I was looking for Regine Velasquez's songs in the internet. The only Regine's song I knew was "In Love With You" duet with Jacky Cheung. And yes, their performance is impressive. It's an old song, I've heard it since I was in Junior (or is it Senior?) High School.

Then I stumbled upon a song of her titled "If Ever You're In My Arms Again". Hmm, wondered whether that's the same song sang by Peabo Bryson. I search the lyrics, and yes.. it's the same song.

I love the song and really want to hear Regine's version. Hahah, thanks to this guy for providing it downloadable . Alas, I can only download it after office hour Oh well, no rush. Then, I read a review about Regine Velasquez that she is a Phillipine singer and well known as "Asia's Songbird". Hmm, she must be quite impressive that she obtained that title. She also produced the song "Emotions" with Mark Feist, who later produced the Destiny's Child cover of the same song in 2001 with little variation. I'd love to hear her version.

The long story about Regine's could be read here.

As I was reading, I realized that there's a link to Anggun. Then I read her profile. What amazed me was that her songs has been covered by Céline Dion (covered "Tu Nages" in her French album "1 fille & 4 types") and Sarah Brightman (covered "Snow on the Sahara" as a bonus track on her album "Live from Las Vegas.").
Wow.. Wow..! Our Indonesian singer (though she splits her time in Montreal, Canada and Paris) has songs that were covered by singers as successful as Celine Dion and sarah Brightman. Haaa, those songs would soon be on my 'search list'

Deep Sea Angler

Itu sih namanya dalam Bahasa Inggris. Nama Indonesianya apa ya? Ikan Lentera? Aku pertama kali liat ikan jenis ini dari buku Ensiklopedia Ikan yang dibeli mamaku dari sales yang datang ke rumah. Intinya sih, ini salah satu jenis ikan laut dalam. Penampakannya emang jelek dan nyeremin yaa..

Fitur yg menarik dari ikan ini ya lentera-nya itu. Istilah lain untuk lenteranya adalah Photophore. Lentera itu dipake untuk memancing calon mangsa untuk mendekat (Walopun yang kebayang, tampang si ikan ini makin serem dengan ada cahaya di depan mukanya ). Tadinya kukira si lentera itu selalu nyala, tapi ternyata dari artikel-artikel yang kubaca si lentera itu ON OFF. Dari artikel lain lagi, ternyata yang bikin nyala lenteranya itu adalah keberadaan bakteri-bakteri khusus yang menguasai teknologi (walaah..) bernama Bioluminescence. Persis seperti kunang-kunang. Btw, brarti si bakteri dan si Deep Sea Angler itu bersimbiosis mutualisma dong? Hmm, tampaknya demikian. Perlu baca2 lebih lanjut

Lenteranya itu kan emang menarik perhatian banget, tapi ternyata ada lagi hal yang unik dari si Deep Sea Angler ini. Yaitu kehidupan seksualnya (kyahahaha.. )
Jadi ya, seperti beberapa makhluk hidup lain, Deep Sea Angler yang betina emang lebih populer dan mencolok. Deep Sea Angler yang jantan ukuran tubuhnya lebih kecil dan beda dari yang betinanya (Yup, gambar yang beredar pada umumnya itu gambar ikan betina). Terkait dengan kehidupan seksualnya, si jantan ini harus menggigit si betina di sisi tubuhnya dan nempel di situ dengan menggunakan gigi seperti kait. Setelah nempel, pembuluh darahnya akan bersatu dengan pembuluh darah si betina, dan bakal selama hidupnya dapat supply makanan dari betina. Jadi seperti parasitlah. Nah, setelah nempel itu jugalah baru si jantan bisa ngoper sperma untuk melanjutkan kehidupan generasi selanjutnya. Satu betina bisa ditempeli beberapa jantan lho. Hee, kayak selebriti aja ya Klo ada jantan yang gagal nempel di betina, ya matilah dia kelaparan. Pejantan yang malang..

Bahasa India.. Nehi.. Nehi..

Adek: Bang, tau bahasa india ga?
Aku: nehi nehi
Adek: ada teman gitu yang tau bahasa india?
Aku: humm, kayaknya ga ada.. Untuk apa dek?
Aku: ada sih yg penggemar film india.. Mungkin dikit2 dia tau
Adek: iya, ada tugas nie..
Aku: disuruh ngapain?
Adek: cari bahasa indianya Delicious, Enak, Segar. Apa ya, Bang?

Aku sama sekali ga pernah kepikiran untuk mendalami bahasa India. Ternyata ada juga saatnya aku perlu tau Bahasa India ya.. Adekku itu ambil kuliah Desain Komunikasi Visual. Jadi kayaknya untuk biki logo ato media promosi gitu.

Nah, karena pertanyaan Adekku itu, jadilah aku iseng2 search kamus Inggris-India di Google (dengan keyword: Indian English dictionary). Dari search result-nya, pilihannya agak membingungkan. Soalnya ada pilihan untuk bahasa Sanskrit (Sansekerta), Hindi, dan Urdu. Yang mana nih yang sesuai?

Jadi aku buka beberapa situs, salah satunya www.wordanywhere.com. Hoo, yg satu ini lumayan. Ada tiga entry yang dimintanya: Kata yang hendak diterjemahkan, Pilihan Bahasa Asal, dan Pilihan Bahasa Tujuan. Terakhir tinggal klik Go!

Jadi aku masukin kata 'delicious', dengan bahasa asal Inggris dan bahasa tujuan Hindi. Didapat hasil:

delicious
Function: adj
Meaning:
(a) svAdiShTa
(b) mIThA
(c) madhura
(d) ruchikara

waah, yang mana ni yang cocok? OK, kita lakukan reverse action Masukin kata svAdiShTa sebagai entry, dan pilih untuk ditranslasi dari Hindi ke English. Looh, kok yang muncul malah pesan

An exact match for the word was not found. Following are some of the similar sounding words or wildcard matches. Please select a closer match.

Similar Sounding Words

Oh noo. Not really helpful. OK, pake cara lain.. CHAT!!
Hahaha, iya chat. Masuk ke Yahoo! Chat. Dan cari chat room untuk regional India. Dapet yang Delhi Global Chat. Join room, liat2 isinya. Kirim pesan perkenalan dan dengan sopannya bertanya, "Then, can somebody help me, please?"
....
....
....
Hening..

Cuma ada beberapa id yang joined dan left. Dan muncullah beberapa pesan dari Bots2 yang ngiklanin pornografi. Bot2 ga penting yang nawarin:

downtoearth4853c3_52: ap Darlings downtoearth4853c3_52 is lonely! I want to date you, see my profile at My Free Pics .c my profile or PM me.
Kafel313_31: mmy Lovers! Kafel313_31 Fell Lonely! Drop by My Sexy Page .PM me
PinkCat200591_32: How's it going Guys! PinkCat200591_32 Here! Check My Free Pics .PM me
mansh (manish_aggarwal333) joined the room
PrivateLabelFL57_41: mm Hunks! Enjoy PrivateLabelFL57_41! Look in on My Cam .Write 2 me.
TexasKandy41_72: up Guys! TexasKandy41_72 at your service! I am seeking lovers My Pics .Chat me.
chele1123750e_30: 2;Wazzzzap Babes! I am chele1123750e_30! Find out my fetishes on My Site .c my profile or PM me.
love_200320052000 joined the room
prem_lover_ashiq joined the room

Ahh, payah ni. Ya udah, cari korban aja. Ahh, Id yang ini kayaknya bukan Bot. Aku kirim private message ke Id: soni.scorpio. Tentunya dengan basa-basi etika dan kesopanan a la Timur terlebih dahulu.

Aku: What's Indian Word for delicious?
Dia: swadist
Dia: ask more
Aku: I've search in www.wordanywhere.com, and it returned --> (a) svAdiShTa (b) mIThA (c) madhura (d) ruchikara
Aku: Is svAdiShTa the same as swadist? how's the correct spelling?
Dia: ya its prenunciation is svadishta
Dia: 'a' is silence
Aku: great..
Aku: And what's Indian word for 'yummy' and 'fresh'? I need the spelling
Dia: vah vah! n for fresh it is sudh

Wow, such a big help there..

I'll go and enjoy some svadishta and vah vah foods to get sudh! Ahaha, don't know whether those words are used in a correct context. I forgot to ask about that to soni.scorpio. Anybody using Indian language?

Can you sleep while the wind blows?

I don't know the real source of this story. I found it in a mailing list and thought it's a nice story to keep.

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic , wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer.
"Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down
before they blow away!"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?
The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because HE had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.

It reminds me to, "Be prepared for everything, do the best you can do in life, and keep on letting God taking care of the rest that you can't control."