Shooting for the moon...

Look around us. There are billions of people in this world. Just like there are billions of matter in space, from the ionosphere to beyond, when you look at the sky.

Look at the stars. They represent the people that are out of reach. When the times are dark, they shine beautifully at you, lovingly caressing your eyes with such beauty. Thinking that they are the ideal ones for you, you reached out to them by all means necessary. As you reach higher and higher, the desire to reach for them consumed you so much you don't care the difference between right and wrong, and by the time you reach them, they are gone. These kind of people what they are, stars which looked like they are shining on you, but when you get to them, they are taken away from you. The stars represent such people.

Then there are the planets. They represent the people who have been alongside you in your life. Throughout your life, they have been beside you, orbiting around life in varying paces - some very fast, others merely taking it easy. You wished you could always be together with them, but no matter what you do, their life could never be in sync with yours, and they are too preoccupied with their own orbit around life to be near you. Just like the planets, stuck in their respective orbits around the sun to be together with you, or even be in sync with your own orbit around the sun. The planets represent such people.

And then there are the satellites orbiting around the ionosphere. They represent the people who are easily - and suspiciously - available. You can reach them in a matter of minutes, you can do whatever you want to them, and then you can leave them be. But at the end of the day, they are merely artificial husks created by your delusions and idealistic thoughts, doing nothing but playing with your mind like a game of chess. You definitely deserve better people than them. Just like the satellites, they are merely artificial articles created by people to analyse signals emanating from the Earth's surface. The satellites represent such people.

Which leaves us with the moon. It represents the one you are destined to be with forever. When the times are dark and bleak, when life does not shine well on you, they will shine brightest. They may not be the prettiest, the most handsome or the most adorable, and surely they do have another side of them which you could not see, but you will always see the beauty in them. Even if they could not be seen, you will know that they will always be by your side every time. Just like the moon, orbiting around the Earth without question, shining brightest when the sun is not, and beautiful despite its imperfect façade. The moon represents the very one person who will be with you for the rest of your life.

There will always be somebody for anybody, believe me, just like there will always be the moon for Earth. The trick is to know which one the moon is among the celestial objects.

So... have you found your moon yet?

Suave Reviews: 5 Centimeters Per Second

Today, for something completely different, I shall review a very moving gem of a Japanese anime movie, 5 Centimeters Per Second. This romantic drama movie, set in Japan in the nineties and concluding on the present day, centers around this guy named Takaki Tohno and is split into three parts (titles translated to English): Cherry Blossom Extract, Cosmonaut, and 5 Centimeters Per Second. The first part, Cherry Blossom Extract, tells the story of Takaki reuniting with his close childhood friend, Akari Shinohara, after being separated after elementary school. The second part, Cosmonaut, chronicles Takaki mainly through the perspective of Kanae Sumita, Takaki's classmate who has a crush on him. The final part, 5 Centimeters Per Second, is the concluding part where it wraps up Takaki's trials and tribulations from the previous two parts.

Now you'll be asking, "Dude, you're a suave badass! Why the hell are you reviewing such a mushy story?" Before you blurt out that question to me, don't. It may be a mushy story, but three reasons outweigh the mushiness of the story.

You know what I'm saying?

Sure, this movie is a romantic drama, but underneath all the love and the romance, there is that underlying theme to the whole story. A message which is hard for me to describe in words, but nevertheless depicts a person's tug-of-war between time and the love they left behind over time. The message is very deep, but very true in terms of how people cope with life.

The surroundings... it's beautiful...

I have to admit, the beautiful scenery in the scenes were so beautiful I wish it was real. From the countryside to the city, the depiction of the scenery was awe-inspiring, I watched the movie full-screen to capture fully the panoramic view of the scenery. Disregarding the romantic theme in the movie, those who love beautiful sceneries, I recommend this movie to you guys.

One More Time, One More Chance

Now, the theme song was what drew me to the movie. The translated message in the song describes about one searching for that special someone whom they lost along the way, and the way the song fits into the movie was seamless, like the song and the movie was made for each other.

If you're a helpless romantic, or someone who is a sucker for beautiful scenery, then 5 Centimeters Per Second is the movie for you. I shall conclude this post with the theme song for the movie, One More Time, One More Chance by Masayoshi Yamazaki.

So you think of being an Internet celebrity?

Skills in Adobe Photoshop. It's the fundamentals of having the 'it' factor online. Be it you're a guy or a girl, Adobe Photoshop is a DEFINITE MUST to nail it in the denizens of the Internet.

You have freckles and acne that bugs your pictures every time? No problemo... all you need to do is to zoom in on your face, apply some Photoshop effects on it to remove the irritating features, and presto! You have beautiful soft face looking back at you!Wonderful, no? So you complain that you're a fat cow, with elephantine thighs and spare tyres round your waist. Why complain? Your pictures; trim out the undesirable features on your body, shape out your body using special effects, and you're Miss World/Mr. Olympia material! Oh! Oh! And another thing... are you complaining that your B-cup doesn't bring them boys to the yard or that your flat butt doesn't make the guys whistle? Take your pictures, digitally enhance your assets as you see fit, and voilà! You'll guarantee to give hard-ons on the hot-blooded dudes looking at the 'enhancements'!

The Internet is filled with lonely individuals. Why are you looking at me? I may be lonely, but at least I have a life! Anyway, The Internet is filled with lonely individuals who only jack off to porn and hot girls with nice assets. They are the demand; if you want to make it in the Internet community you have to give supply to satisfy the demand from these lonely, hot-blooded people who have hard-ons looking at hot girls online. Just let your l337 Photoshopping skills do the talking at you'll become an instant Internet meme. Come to think of it, whichever girl whose nickname is Keyra Agustina must have a heck load of time Photoshopping each and every single frame of her gyrating to James Brown.

Well, tune in next time when I talk about something completely different.

One's great victories should not be at the expense of others.

We all have that desire to win. We always want to win in something; tournaments, competitions, even contests. But what measures have we been using to win all that we desire to? Do we severely injure our opponents to the point of withdrawal? Do we discredit our opponents with skeletons in their closets? Or even put down our opponents to the point where they break physically, mentally or emotionally?

Winning at all costs in ugliest of fashions is a defeat of humanity in itself, no matter how great the victory is. What is the use of celebrating your glorious victory when your nearest opponent licks his open wounds in defeat, contemplating what he had done to deserve the injuries inflicted by your unethical ways to win? By winning using such methods, you have lost your human spirit. You are thinking of nothing else but winning at all costs. You even resort to annihilation to achieve the victory, no matter how minuscule or grandiose it is. In short, you have won everything there is to win, but you have lost yourself. That is the nature of winning at all costs.

What goes on the competition field stays in the competition field. You may be enemies from the kick-off to the end, but when the final whistle blows, congratulate your opponents and shake their hands to appreciate the great battle you and your opponent have made in the competition. When your opponent is injured, halt the game and help him. When you have won, encourage him to train harder. When you have lost, acknowledge him for his victory. You may be rivals during the duration of the competition, be it several seconds or several hours, but outside of it, have a friendly banter over a cup of coffee. That is the nature of a model sportsman.

Remember, great victories should not be achieved at the expense of others. It is the way to achieve and sustain the human spirit in this world.

The extended network called 'human beings'

Have a look at the contact lists in your Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo Messenger or whatever. Or have a look at your friends list in Friendster. Take a look deeper into their profiles (without spying, that is). Then think for a second: is it possible that your friends and contacts are more than meets their profiles?

Yes. But not in a personal point of view, that is. What I'm saying is, that friend you are looking at might know someone whom you have known but forgotten. Your classmate might have known your ex-girlfriend since primary school. Your former schoolmate might have a relative who's going to elope with a relative of yours. Your teammate in a sports club might be someone whom you knew back in kindergarten but lost contact as time went by. Your brother's friend might be playing in a football club on a regular basis.

We all are intertwined in a grand network of humanity. Once you forge a friendship with someone, you have created a bridge between you and your friend in the network. That bridge between you and your friend links both of you together to those whom you know and whom your friend knows. The more bridges you build, the more connection between us fellow humankind will be created. When you forge a friendship with someone, it's like you forged an acquaintance with the world.

Build a bridge, start by forging friendships with more people, and you'll be one step nearer to knowing the people of the world.