moloko - the time is now

time misspent is time well spent

We are often told that life is too short to waste time, but I guess that all depends on your definition of what is meant by ‘wasted time’. In a world which espouses the idea of encouraging and accepting the individual we spend a lot of time in fact doing the opposite and encouraging conformity within certain accepted social ideals.

Many of us are told to do the right thing, work hard at school, head off to university and earn a good degree before we enter the workforce in a sensible and secure job. This is not going to be a story with a happy ending. All that is achieved by following this path is malcontent, disillusionment and unhappiness. The rest of your life is spent trying to quell a most cherished dream or trying to avoid the frustration and guilt associated with living a most miserable life.

Why do so many of us follow this path? Because we are sold the misguided dream that to achieve a happy life we must ‘put in the hard work’, aim for security, take practical choices…in short ‘suck it up’ for a while until we get to where we want to be. To spend our time pursuing such a path is simply not a logical ideal.

Surely life is too short to spend time working at something which has us swallowing our disappointment and trying to ignore the feelings of dissatisfaction which arise as we aim for an ever elusive ultimate goal of happiness. After all, our chances of actually reaching this goal at the end of an unhappy life is only a slim possibility and not a guarantee.

Shouldn’t happiness be something to pursue immediately, to capture in the moment and be at the forefront of our minds at all times? Or has the naive and impractical just taken over me for this post?

modern living

Obliviousness is the worst human quality and yet there is evidence of it all around us. It’s the person on the bus who insists on folding their newspaper in front of your face as they turn the pages, it’s the person who refuses to give an inch of space when you sit next to them on the train, and it’s in the way that we block out other people and concentrate only on our own problems. Perhaps the more ‘successful’ we become in society’s eyes, the more we lose contact with people around us.

Thankfully though all is not lost. It is still possible to find hope in the goodness of the human spirit in the most unlikely of places.

I am reminded of a scene I witnessed a few days back in taiwan. While standing there, I watched an old man rummaged the bins on the street of ximenting for leftovers, streaming ridden cups of drinks on himself for a quick public bath.

On another street, two men approached a nearby bin. Both men were obviously homeless and well acquainted with life on the streets. The older man had the appearance of an ageing rocker with his weathered face, stonewash jeans, old thongs and dirty shirt which hung loosely from his rakishly thin body. He gave the impression of being the leader in this two-man gang. His friend had a sadder aura, like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. Wearing old blue jeans and a shirt that had definitely seen better days, he wore no shoes and his dirty and damaged feet clearly showed the effects.

The first man began to sift through the rubbish in the bin while his friend waited to one side. Digging down through the surface layer of garbage the leader pulled out a not-quite-empty cup of takeaway milk tea. Drinking some of it, he then offered the rest to his friend who gratefully gulped it down. Watching them share that cup of milk tea restored some of my faith in the human race. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a moving gesture of friendship and consideration as that which passed between the two men that day.

After drinking their tea, the men moved further down the street and onto another bin, no doubt to share in any further spoils they found. Does this event stand out in my mind because so many of us have become overly mean and self-obsessed?

Children are taught the importance of sharing and we try to instill in them feelings of compassion and hope, and yet so much in the world preaches the opposite. We are all so inwardly focussed and concerned with our own lives that we can quickly forget that other people struggle too and no doubt have similar problems to our own.

We fail to remember that we are all from the earth regardless of what country we are born in, who are parents are, what we eat, what we believe or what we end up doing with our lives. By turning our attention and energies a little more outwards, we would be in a better position to recognise our similarities rather than focus on our differences. It doesn’t take much effort to make a positive difference in the world - a smile, a touch, a kind thought, or perhaps even sharing a cup of tea from time to time is all that is required.

---

On a sidenote, some people predicted that i'll die from multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.

The checkup at Raffles Medical revealed that i'm in the pink of health. The only 'abnormality' is that my heart rate stands at 42/min.

So be rest assured, there's still more of efilsidas to go around...whether you like it or not.

musings on a plane

When they are born, children are handed a single white envelope, tightly sealed and filled with nothing more than the hopes, dreams and best wishes of their parents. They are told to guard this envelope well as it will one day open and reveal something important about their future. Starting out life clutched by small soft hands, you would expect the envelope to be lost.

Despite some envelopes travelling widely with their custodians, some envelopes becoming folded and worn, they are never lost. Envelope secrets are not shared even amongst the closest of friends. Their mysteries are proudly protected and deeply respected.

…And still the seal remains unbroken.

Over time this envelope fills with the memories of our heartbreaks, our successes, our failures, our loves, our losses and all the moments in between which come together to form a life.

…And still the seal remains unbroken.

In all that we do the envelope is there with us. Sometimes we may pause and reflect on all that it contains and the promise of what it will one day reveal. Without this envelope we would be nothing. As we grow, it grows.

…And still the seal remains unbroken.

Then one day something strange begins to happen, as fat and as full as the envelope has become, it starts to thin out little by little, day by day. Even though nothing seems to have changed, it continues to waste away. Eventually it becomes nothing more than what it was when it started…a single white envelope, tightly sealed and seemingly filled with nothing.

…And still the seal remains unbroken.

We soon realise that without us even noticing, something has most definitely changed. All those individual memories and moments, hopes and dreams that our envelopes once held can no longer be singled out. They have come together and formed part of us, becoming part of our collective experiences, becoming part of who we are. We have finally grown up.

…And still the seal remains unbroken.

It will happen one day unexpectedly. You may be returning home from work after a gruelling day, or relaxing with a smooth bottle of wine. Whatever the circumstances, it will happen. Your envelope seal will come unstuck and reveal the contents within.

'Your life is your own, everything is now within you.
Please dispose of this packaging thoughtfully.'

…And so the seal has broken.

Babyshambles - Beg, Steal or Borrow

And so Pete Doherty, who rose to fame in The Libertines decided to form Babyshambles since he wasn't allowed back into the band. Seriously, why beg steal or borrow?

That's Babyshambles for you. And they rock my day.

The Libertines

Initially i didn't like it when i first heard it while doing my occasional random listens. But afterawhile, reading up on him and his lyrics, i realised why people see him as a genius.

Alot of people portray Pete Doherty as the fucked up druggie who just fucks himself up and the people around him. But i see him as an person that no one understands and the media makes him out as a terrible person to sell more tabloids. Sure drugs isn't a good thing, but if he ain't raping or killing, that at least it's a lesser evil of some sort.

The great part about Libertines is actually what’s so bad about it. The fucked up nonchalant vocals and the messy melodic tunes. In this day in age, everyone is trying to be perfect. The tonality, the pitch and so on, American idol is one great example of it. But Pete Doherty goes against the norm. He’s fucked up singing reminds me of the early 90s, the forgotten ones like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis just wanting to be heard.

Just a brief intro to the first song on the playlist which is the youtube video. You got to watch the video to understand it. It’s the first song from the Libertines 2nd album where trouble was already brewing between Carl Barat and Pete Doherty. Pete has been on drugs and failing to attempt to show up for gigs and practices, it's been so bad that one day Pete actually goes and bulgar Carl’s house. Carl has been threatening Pete that if he doesn't clean up, he will get kicked out from the band. And the first song, is actually all about that, its actually a conversation between Carl and Pete, which you can see in the video.

Can’t Stand Me Now

An ending fitting for the start
You twist and tore our love apart
Your light fingers threw the dark
That shattered the lamp and into darkness cast us…

--> this part is about the current situation, how its actually probably the end already, also the lamp is actually talking about the time when Pete went to break into Carl’s house.

No, you’ve got it the wrong way round
You shut me up and blamed it on the brown
Cornered the boy, kicked out at the world… the world kicked back
Alot fuckin’ harder…

--> This Pete saying that Carl is blaming on his drug habits and how he’s taking the grunt of it.

If you wanna try, if you wanna try There’s no worse you could do (oh oh oh)
I know you lie (I know you lie)
I’m still in love with you (oh oh oh)
Can’t take me anywhere (I’ll take you anywhere)
Can’t take me anywhere (I can’t take you anywhere)
I’ll take you anywhere you wanna go

No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now
No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now
No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now
No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now

Have we enough to keep it together?
Or do we just keep on pretending (and hope our luck is never ending)… oh
You tried to pull the wool, I wasn’t feeling too clever
And you take all that they’re lending
Until you needed mending…

--> i felt this was the saddest part in the song, the part where he says do we keep on pretending, and hope our luck is never ending.

If you wanna try
If you wanna try
There’s no worse you could do (oh oh oh)

I know you lie
All you do is make me cry
All those words that ain’t true

Can’t take me anywhere (can’t take you anywhere)
Can’t take me anywhere (wouldn’t take you anywhere)
I’ll take you anywhere you wanna go

No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now
No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now
No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now
No, you can’t stand me now, no you can’t stand me now

You can see from the lyrics, and the way both Carl and Pete sings it, it's actually quite painful. That's another reason why i love the Libertines.