Starting A Family Tree

Like so many things that start out ever so harmlessly, my mom was asking me to look for this article that was written by her former teacher that named her so out of curiosity I googled my mom's name. The search result returned not only my mom but also my uncles and aunties from a site called www.geni.com and the rest as they all say is history.

2 days later, and with much digging around for information about ancestors, long lost relatives and erm... forgotten names... (this is too embarrassing to talk about so I won't elaborate), my family tree has grown into a jungle and although there are some missing links here and there, I'm quite pleased with the result.

You are able to invite your family members and they can add their extended family members and it goes on and on till before you know it, everyone's connected... as their tagline goes.

So fancy creating your family tree? Go give www.geni.com a visit.

Say "No" To Turtle Egg Consumption Is Now Online

The Say "NO" To Turtle Eggs Consumption is now online so it is now even easier for you to stand up and tell everyone that consuming turtle eggs is NOT cool.

The petition was started some months back using paper forms but to make it more convenient for everyone to sign the form, the Turtle Research & Rehabilitation Group (Pelf.. I got it right this time... :-D keh keh keh) has ported the petition online. As such, all you need to do is send the link to all your friends, colleagues, masters, slaves, employers, employees... everyone. If you have signed the earlier one, do drop by this link and sign it again as it has been revised to include an appeal to the Malaysian Department of Fisheries and the Terengganu State Government to ban the collection, sale and consumption of turtle eggs.

Although the collection of turtle eggs has been banned in some parts of the country, the sale is not and it never will be as long as there is demand. And the demand is not just from local villagers as tourists and dignitaries also want to have a taste due to myths surrounding the consumption of turtle eggs.

Why does it matter? Most of us feel that it's too little and we doubt the change it would make but it was just a century ago that African Americans were considered slaves but today, there is a possibility that the next American president will be an African American so nothing is impossible and as the saying goes, a little bit each day will go a long way so spread the word and do your part. These gentle creatures are a sight to behold. Ask anyone who has seen them and they will agree with me. Turtles are already in danger from the moment the eggs are deposited... Fire ants, crabs, birds, fishes, monitor lizards and many more. They do not need the ultimate predator preying on them as well.

Why eat turtle eggs? No reason whatsoever!! There is no value from eating turtle eggs. The myth that turtle eggs are an aphrodisiac (something that arouses/ intensifies sexual desire) is just that... A myth!! To drive one of the oldest creatures on this planet to the brink of extinction is too high a price just to prove this point. Studies have determined that turtle eggs are not an aphrodisiac... In fact, turtle eggs contain much higher levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) than a chicken egg. So consumption of turtle egges will have the opposite effect. Why? Well... an erection is caused by the rush of blood into your penis and cholesterol clogs up those beautiful little arteries and veins of yours thus reducing the flow of blood... So forget virility cos' it's flaccidity that you'll be faced with!!

So what can you do? Tell your friends about the campaign and head on over to The Say "No" To Turtle Egg Online Petition and sign the petition. You can download the icon at the bottom of this post (or what the heck... go create a nice icon of your own) and put a link on your Website/ blog or facebook or friendster and tell everyone that consuming turtle eggs is uncool. We can all make a difference.

Thought Bubbles Goes Pink

First of all, No! My blog has not been hijacked by Bao Yi (my girlfriend who for some reason loves anything pink). It's actually Breast Cancer Awareness Month therefore, Thought Bubbles goes pink... I've also been told to acknowledge her as she helped me identify the colours that I was using as I have this problem with colours so there... that's your acknowledgement. Thank You. :-)

A lot of us men brush off Breast Cancer as something that's not too close a threat but think again. People we care about and love are at risk. We all have mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, friends, colleagues. girlfriends and wives. Most of us may not know it but even we men have a risk of getting breast cancer... well... call it chest cancer if you prefer but the fact is men can and have contracted the disease. Read more about it here.

The following are some information from the College of Radiology Website:

• Breast cancer was the commonest overall cancer as well as the commonest cancer in women amongst all races from the age of 20 years in Malaysia for 2003 to 2005.
• Breast cancer is most common in Chinese, followed by the Indians and then, Malays.
• Breast cancer formed 31.1% of newly diagnosed cancer cases in women in 2003-2005.
• A woman in Malaysia has a 1 in 20 chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime.
• The cumulative life time risk of developing breast cancer for Chinese women, Indian women and Malay women were 1 in 16, 1 in 17 and 1 in 28 respectively.
• The peak incidence appeared to be 50 - 59 years old.
  

The following are information about breast cancer worth reading about:

• 22 Myths About Breast Cancer
• Breast Cancer Statistics in US
• ACS: What is Male Breast Cancer?
• ACS: Risk Factors for Male Breast Cancer
• Malaysian Breast Cancer Welfare Association
• Facing Breast Cancer
• Breast Cancer Support Group

So what can you do? It's Breast Cancer Awareness month so spread the word, 'pinkify' your blog or Web Site if you haven't already. Find out about breast cancer. Tell your loved ones what you have learned about breast cancer.

So how do you go about going pink? Register here and be counted.

Check out other Web Sites that have been Pinkified and read about what they have found out about breast cancer by visiting this link.

Add Go Pink Badges to your blog/ Web site.

Subscribe to Pink for October to keep yourself updated.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Wars is back and it is back with a vengeance. After the recent prequels including the earlier Clone Wars cartoons, the enthusiasm that I had for all things Star Wars kinda' faded due to disappointment. Don't get me wrong, a Jedi Starfighter will take out the USS Enterprise (Star Trek) anytime... even on a bad day... (Hope I don't get flamed for this) but I had very high expectations of Star Wars. After watching the prequels, one can't help feel that instead of bringing the Star Wars legend to a higher level, all it achieved was plug in some of the holes in the whole saga. Needless to say I left the cinemas without the 'high' I was hoping to get.

But anyway, that's in the past. After watching the first three episodes of The Clone Wars (TCW), I'd have to say that it has yet to disappoint. Part of this I feel is attributed to the focus on the battles rather than the relationships between the various characters which pretty much screwed up the prequels. This in turn can probably be attributed to the lack of chemistry between the stars.

TCW pretty much follows the events of Episode II and the previous Clone Wars cartoons back in 2003. For the uninitiated, the Clone Wars is the significant event in Star Wars history that led to the rise of Emperor Palpatine ending with the outlawing and subsequent extermination of the Jedi order.

TCW pretty much picks up from the the previous cartoons and centers on the adventures of Yoda, Obi Wan, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's new padawan (Jedi disciple). Yoda was back to his former comedic self and this brought back memories of him in The Empire Strikes Back (TESB) which coincidentally is my favourite Star Wars movie of all time.

There's sufficient action to keep us on the edge of our seats and battle droids are providing much welcome comedic relief as well.

The graphics is also much better than the 2003 cartoons and this is a big relief. What I think is interesting is also the way it has embedded messages into each episode such as "Great leaders inspire greatness in others" and "Belief is not a matter of choice, but of conviction" which I felt was good.

The force is definitely strong in this one.

TENJEWBERRYMUDS

This is hilarious. To get the full effect, this should be read aloud. You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation. This has been nominated for the best email of 2007.

The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service, at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the Far East Economic Review:

Room Service (RS): 'Morrin. - Roon sirbees.'
Guest (G): 'Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service.'
RS: ' Rye .. Roon sirbees .. morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen?'
G: 'Uh..yes. I'd like some bacon and eggs.'
RS: 'Ow July den?'
G: 'What?'
RS: 'Ow July den? ... pryed, boyud, poochd?'
G : 'Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please.'
RS: 'Ow July dee baykem? Crease?'
G: 'Crisp will be fine.'
RS : 'Hokay. An sahn toes?'
G: 'What?'
RS:'An toes. July sahn toes?'
G: 'I don't think so.'
RS: 'No? Judo wan sahn toes?'
G: 'I feel really bad about this, but I don't know what 'judo wan sahn toes' means.'
RS: 'Toes! toes!....Why jew don juan toes? Ow bow Anglish moppin we bodder?'
G: 'English muffin!! I've got it! You were saying 'Toast.' Fine. Yes, an English muffin will be fine.'
RS: 'We bodder?'
G: 'No ... just put the bodder on the side.'
RS: 'Wad! ?'
G: 'I mean butter...just put it on the side.'
RS: 'Copy?'
G: 'Excuse me?'
RS: 'Copy ... tea ... meel?'
G: 'Yes. Coffee, please, and that's all.'
RS: 'One Minnie. Scramah egg, crease baykem, Anglish moppin w bodder on sigh and copy .... rye?'
G: 'Whatever you say.'
RS: 'Tenjewberrymuds.'