OUR BEST FRIENDS - OUR BELOVED DOGS.

As a kid, a long time ago, I was brought up in a dog-friendly environment.

My parents and siblings simply adore dogs.

Dogs give us their unconditional love, friendship and loyalty.

They are obedient and ever eager to please.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, IS HIS DOG.

A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintery winds blow, and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side.

He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the sores and wounds that come in encounter with the roughness of the world.

He guards the sleep of his Pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains.

When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in it's journey through the heavens.

If misfortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies.

And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in it's embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true, even in death.

DOGS guide us to the sunshine world through their eyes.

They teach us to show love to whom we hold so dear, and let them know we care.

LIFE'S SHORT and you may never know what's around the next corner.

They are our BEST FRIENDS - our BELOVED DOGS.

Heavenly creatures, won't you all agree?

KILLING US GENTLY WITH HIS SONGS. A Fond Farewell, DANNY CHAN.

HE sang.

And the whole canto pop world clamored for more.

This is a tribute to DANNY CHAN, HONG KONG pop singer and composer extraordinaire.

DANNY died in 1993, after 13 months in comatose.

It had been widely reported then that DANNY suffered from a depression of sorts, and was hurting badly from psychological loneliness and a sagging career in the later part of his life.

He became a recluse, was manic-depressive and resorted to drugs and alcohol.

As a result, he was found unconscious in his residence one fateful day in 1992, apparently from an accidental overdose.

Whether this one is fact or fiction, the mystery died with DANNY.

Time has really flown as DANNY CHAN had been long gone for 15 long years.

These days, whenever his evergreen hit MY TEARS FLOW FOR YOU is being aired over the radio, memories of DANNY would come flooding back.

A sense of DEJA VU. Merci.

It's like some weird kind of resurgence, just like the lyrics from ROBERTA FLACK's famous song:

"I heard him sing a good song,

I heard he had a style,

And so I came to see him,

And listened for a while,

There he was this young boy,

A stranger to my eyes ...

Strumming my pain with his fingers,

Singing my life with his words .... "

Killing me softly with his songs...."

I still recall vivid memories of the early 1980s, when I approached DANNY CHAN, then a fledgling singer and a host of other Hong Kong artistes for a charity performance courtesy of the LIONS SOCIETY OF SINGAPORE.

Whilst the Hong Kong artistes are contented to twin-sharing rooms, DANNY peremptorily insisted on a single room just for himself.

Whenever he had a mood swing, which he often did, he would give the P.R. conferences a miss and went swimming in the hotel pool instead.

At that time, I found him to be as self-centered as he was perplexing, and I had to cajole him for at least an one-to-one interview with MICHAEL CHIANG (currently editorial consultant with the Singapore MediaCorp 8 Days Magazine), then a journalist, at the Mandarin Singapore's poolside.

DANNY even requested that I treat him to a VERSACE fashion show staged at the Mandarin Hotel and he wanted to meet DICK LEE because he heard that from grapevine that they both resembled each other.

Frankly, DANNY was relatively unknown in 1981. But on that night of the charity performance at the now defunct SINGAPORE NATIONAL THEATRE, I was startled by his powerful vocals when he belted out his hit MY TEARS FLOW FOR YOU.

Now it's as though time has really stood still.

DANNY CHAN's soulful evergreens will always remain as a heritage with his fans, invoking a deep sense of loss in many of us, of a great talent that has passed on.

Were I really friends with DANNY? I am clueless.

Eons ago, when DANNY was still around and whenever I was in Hong Kong for project meetings, we would make a point to meet for afternoon teas. Our usual tete-a tete rendezvous was at the Chatterbox Coffee Shop at the MANDARIN HOTEL.

DANNY was the effervescent good looker who loved to mingle with the socialites and the fashionistas and it was not uncommon for our chats to be interrupted by a beautiful "someone" who would just come hither with a "wooo...how are you and what have you been doing lately? That's a nice really striking shirt you are wearing...and..."

Hug, more hugs, smooches ...

Boleh tahan, tak?

DANNY loved to be complimented as a hip haute trendsetter, for his fine dressing.

His pretty boy features made him look good in anything he threw on, including those slick jackets of his - be it worn-in leather, black blazer or safari style. His looks are always stylish, never less.

He was a veteran of style, be it funky, edgy or flamboyant.

The biggest problem with DANNY CHAN was his moods.

On some days when I ran straight into him at the REGENT Hong Kong, he would "feign" the I-don't-know-you routine and breezed pass me without even a simple hello.

Ignorance was bliss then.

Then when I sought to give him back a dose of his own discipline, as I was rushing back to my hotel on NATHAN ROAD, he would cross over to say "hello" to me with a curt "Hi, so you are in town? Let's have tea tomorrow at the old place, OK?"

It was really exasperating to play the "mind-set" with this man.

I remembered fervently that DANNY had a penchant for the LONDON scene and he always wanted to make an annual "pilgrimage" there . I did not know his reasons and I never asked.

But I had an intense dislike for his then manager, an obnoxious albeit pretentious man called K.K. TAM.

K.K. TAM was rude and arrogant, and extremely tactless in his dealings.

And wow, he was lucky in the 80s to have 3 extremely popular talents under his artiste management belt.

They were DANNY CHAN, LESLIE CHEUNG and PAUL CHEONG.

As FATE would have it, all these three artistes succumbed to suicides, under mysterious circumstances.

It's something still baffling to this day.

But nonetheless true.

As I have said, life moves in strange circles.

It's either you believe this one or not.

MAN's BEST FRIEND - a TRIBUTE

He is your FRIEND, your PARTNER, your DEFENDER, your DOG.

You are his LIFE, his LOVE, his LEADER.

He will be yours, faithfully and true, to the last beat of his heart.

You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.

FRIENDS. Easier Said than Done.

In prosperity, our FRIENDS know us.

In adversity, we know our friends.

I agree with the statement that if, at the end of life, we can count on at least two people, who are friends willing to do anything for us at the drop of a hat.

And who stand ready when we are hurting or need help.

If so, then we are indeed fortunate.

We can talk with FRIENDS about every facet of life - joys, trials, unhappiness, tragedies.

We can make ourselves vulnerable to them, knowing that they will always think and act in our best interests.

Since FRIENDS and FRIENDSHIPS are so valuable, how can you acquire more?

If you go out in life looking for friends, they will be hard to find.

However, if you go out in life striving to be a friend, you will find them everywhere.

Woe is a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances in life.

Make new friends,

Keep the old,

Those are silver,

These are gold.

New-made friendships

Age will mellow and refine,

Friendships that have stood the test of time,

TIME and CHANGE are surely best -

Brow may wrinkle,

Hair grows gray,

FRIENDSHIP NEVER KNOWS DECAY.

Wise adage.

So value true friendships that come your way,

They bring rays of sunshine into your LIFE.

Friendships are like nutrients

That nourish our lives.

SO LET'S CELEBRATE FRIENDSHIP!

Living LIFE. Sipping TEA. MASTURBATION. SELF-HAPPINESS. FIREWORKS. BLISS.

With the current global financial crisis that is hurting us deep into our pockets, it's little wonder that anybody can be driven to the verge of a mental suicide.

Especially for the average-type businessman.

How do you brace for challenges in tough times?

How do you stay resilient during this worldwide economic crisis, right up to year 2010?

Can you foretell what tomorrow will bring?

Or if your survival strategies will bear fruit.

How do you harness peace of mind when you are feeling queasy?

Pray and hope for a few minutes of solitude, of bliss?

BLISS can be momentary, but really, who cares.

It may be packaged in small doses of self-indulgence.

Close your eyes and allow your imagination to take flight.

You're escaping from reality.

You may be transported to an aesthetic realm, where worldly problems are temporarily cast aside.

You may experience intense pleasure, but unless you try, you'll never know.

Like anything else, just go with the flow.

Hmmm ....heavenly bliss.

YOU LIKE RED CHERRIES?

They are luscious, they are red and inviting, they "seduce" you to taste them.

You may read sexual connotations in cherries, something of the birds-and-bees kind.

Perhaps not, if your mind is as clean as a sheet.

You cannot be such a quirky virgin.

Let's say when you are very much alone. shrouded in total privacy, and all you hear are birds chirping and the bees humming merrily, then it's about time.

TIME FOR SELF-HAPPINESS, errr .....MASTURBATION.

MASTURBATION is for real and all medical journals attest to this.

It's part of growing up and in some way, a part of growing old too.

It's solitary sex, self-gratification leading to fireworks of your mind and then mental bliss.

After that, there's a great calm, you feel drained of energy and the realm is ever-so-peaceful.

You are gratified.

EVERYONE masturbates, at one time or the other.

It's as though your own genitals need some form of exercise.

The teenager works at it during puberty, maybe out of curiosity.

The adult masturbates whenever they are gamely stressed.

Self-release from a troubled mind, without a doubt.

Modern living in a stressed world rocking amid the throes of recessionary blues can be very trying.

Help!

Fellow blogger ANDREW1 has his clear directions in mind when he writes:

"It's always been a fascination,

I've have never lacked for motivation,

Always finding the inspiration,

A wonderful form of relaxation,

Much more fun than meditation,

Starting with some stimulation,

You get that feeling of elation,

As it begins the elongation,

Followed by the levitation,

Then waiting in anticipation,

Of enjoying the final sensation ..."

Wow, naturally comes the "fireworks" of explosion!

We all hope to be spared from this dreadful feeling arising from the global financial crisis.

Hush away, blues!!!

If anything else, it only deepens your "horniness".

URGHH .....

But HELP is just round the corner, haha.

Go on - REACH OUT with your HANDS!

Now, GO CATCH THE SPRAYS!

But don't ask me how to do it.

Did I not hear somebody says, "A penny for your thoughts"?

YES, YES.

You're transported back to "home-ground", back to reality, to where you belong.

Don't be brutal.

It's just another personal RANT, after all.

I have uploaded something LIGHT-and-FUNNY for you here on a similar subject. Check this one out.

The BIRDS and the BEES. The ART of SEX versus SUPPRESSIONS.

RELAX, man.

I am crossing sensitive boundary again with this designed-for-adult-only-RESTRICTED ZONE.

The subject is SEX, ZEN and their implications.

My target audience is celebrities, film makers and ad people who know how to appreciate the finer things in life, besides wealth.

I am not here to titillate anybody or to pique controversy.

It's either a matter of good taste, bad taste or art's taste.

To each his own.

It's something we all know, yet nonetheless is food-for-thought here.

And if any nice person is offended by my content and pictures here, please write to me and I will gladly oblige to delete all and sundry here.

Blogspot admin guys also, please take note.

Because I know that the pictorial will surely make your heart skip a beat if you do not allow religious beliefs to cloud your judgement here.

Often, I like to sip my tea and let my thoughts take flight.

I had recently finished re-reading a naughty 1928 book LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER by D.H.LAWRENCE that was banned once upon a time for its explicitness in sexual content.

It explores unbridled sex and sexuality during the Victorian days, and it was deemed a bold approach to what was strictly taboo then - sexual intercourse in novels.

A genre like LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER would be deemed "tame" these days.

We move on with the times and technology. Somehow things change.

SEX is food for our souls.

Even the celebrities and world leaders are at it. Pretty normal these days, huh.

Yet, when it comes to the topic of THE BIRDS and the BEES, how far can we go?

For sure, the birds chirp merrily and the bees buzz happily.

And when we undrape the human form, is it obscenity when it comes to exposing the full genitalia?

GOD has created genitalia for the genders.

What is Art? And what is not when it comes to SEX?

How do we play by the rules?

SEX is metaphorized as the BIRDS and the BEES.

BIRDS are like men with penises.

BEES are like women with vaginas.

MEN impregnate eggs.

WOMEN give birth.

SEX is therefore the key for survival of both.

"Let's do it ! Let's fall in love !"

For virgins, SEX should be performed rightfully with the one you love.

In ASIA, our values tend to be more traditional than our Western counterparts where SEX is observed as a rite to be consummated after marriage. Yet again, with the advent of the internet and art house films, morals change.

There's often a lot of pressure to lose one's virginity, that is, having sexual intercourse for the first time.

So let's say that daddy and mummy get married, have sex, live happily ever after and propagate the family tree.

Therefore, the proper SEX exists for:

MARITAL PLEASURE (every normal being is at it),

UNITY (the intimate fusion of two naked bodies bound in physical and spiritual love) and

PROCREATION (the man "deposits" his sperms inside the female during sexual intercourse, and it will take 9 months for the "peach blossom" to bloom).

Other than these?

Go guess - but just don't come up with something ridiculous, OK?

Now take a breather and enjoy a comedic banter with famous stand-up comedian CHRISTIAN FINNEGAN on his satire 'THE BIRDS AND THE BEES".

Loosen up, folks !!

TSAI CHIN - "EMBRACING your TENDERNESS". CAN you FEEL my SEARING Pain?

"EMBRACING YOUR TENDERNESS".

It has been that many long years since I first heard this Mandarin hit song in the 80s,

and now it's back to jolt my memory again.

The sad but powerful vocals, the lyrics sung with such lovelorn gusto about a girl pining for a love lost....were extremely touching in TSAI CHIN's searing heartfelt hit that spearheaded her to super stardom in the 80s.

Two decades later, this song is still going on strong.

Memories are made of these.

This Mandarin song is called 'EMBRACING YOUR TENDERNESS' and it was written by a dear old friend of mine from Taiwan, the late LIANG HUNG TZE who was then serving National Service for his country.

I was acquainted with LIANG in the early 80s through another famous artiste FEI XIANG from EMI RECORDS. I jested with LIANG about his decision to pen a ballad, specially for TSAI CHIN whom I noticed was "an ugly duckling with thick rimmed glasses" then.

But LIANG was adamant about promoting TSAI CHIN when nobody else would.

"Listen to her powerhouse of emotions when she sings," he enthused. "It's rare to find someone to sing the way I want my song to be sung. This lass is going places."

Alas, the famous song composer LIANG died prematurely of ill health in 2004 and at each and every of TSAI CHIN's concert, she has made a point of paying tribute to her mentor LIANG by singing this 'EMBRACING YOUR TENDERNESS' as the signature song.

Because, if LIANG had not written this song for TSAI CHIN, she would not have been atop the pinnacle that she is maintaining today

Let's take a walk down memory lane with the lyrics translated into English:

I CAN STILL RECALL THAT CERTAIN YEAR, MONTH AND DAY

WHEN WE PARTED,

I CAN STILL VISUALIZE YOUR CRESTFALLEN FACE,

'COS IT WAS HARD THEN TO SAY GOODBYE,

LETTING GO WAS NEVER EASY,

IT WAS SUCH AN EMOTIONAL DECISION,

YET WE BOTH NEVER SHED A TEAR,

OUR LOVE BLOSSOMED SMOOTHLY TILL THE VERY END,

YET DESPITE EVERYTHING,

DAY AFTER DAY, YEAR AFTER YEAR,

I STILL CANNOT FORGET THE LINGERING MOMENTS OF OUR LOVE

AND THE PAIN OF HEARTBREAK,

CAN YOU HEAR THE WAILS FROM THE CRASHING WAVES?

I WANT TO REACH OUT,

TO FEEL THE COLD SPRAYS

AND THE RHYTHM OF THESE WAVES AS THEY RUSH TO THE OPEN SEA,

CARRYING WITH THEM REMNANTS OF OUR LOST LOVE

A LOVE THAT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE,

THESE WAVES STIR IN ME YOUR TENDERNESS

THAT'S FOREVER ETCHED DEEP WITHIN THE SCARS OF MY HEART.

In real life, TSAI CHIN has her own gamut of personal problems.

She survived breast cancer and she divorced her renowned Taiwanese art-house film director EDWARD YANG when she discovered that he was cheating on her.

EDWARD YANG lost his fight to colon cancer in 2007 whilst LIANG HUNG TZE her mentor passed on a year before.

Such is the irony of life, where you gain some, and you lose some.

These days, TSAI CHIN is an exuberant and confident woman through her own trials and tribulations.

She is fully aware that "a nice car is not the key to success. The key is the DRIVER".

She is quick to mend broken friendships and relationships, because negative energy will keep one from being productive.

Patience is a virtue, so don't give up!

And if you don't believe in yourself, then who will?

From the famous singer of 'EMBRACING YOUR TENDERNESS', her final word is "There's no replacement for EFFORT."

All in all, her staunch faith has been a blessing guiding her life.