It’s 2am and I’m still awake. I had every intention to go to bed at a decent hour but for some reason, my mind was churning with thoughts about the future, of work and family and health and life’s larger purposes.
So I decided to listen to a new compilation I just bought. What joy to find another beautiful gem by the gifted (and – may I venture – anointed) Corrinne May. And now I am off to bed.
The Answer
Lyrics by Corrinne May Ying Foo
Music by Gustav Holst, ‘Jupiter’ from The Planets Suite
I believe you are the answer to every tear I’ve cried
I believe that you are with me,
My rising and my light.
Give me strength when I am weary
Give me hope when I can’t see
Through the crosses I must carry
Lord, bind my heart to Thee
That when all my days are over
and all my chores are done,
I may see your risen Glory
Forever where you are.
Hundreds of things to do today, but must pause to share the new MCYS family video that was recently released. The work of the inimitable Yasmin Ahmad, whose other videos I’ve mentioned elsewhere.
A quick post to link everyone over to this recent little gem in the IHT – an afterschool care centre asks kids to give advice to incoming US president Barack Obama.
Athos and Porthos have been majoring in Legos recently, especially since their collection more than doubled recently. Mustard Seed Mum sent over some from her gift stash, followed closely by a versatile expansion kit from Kong Kong J, and hot on the heels was Porthos’ birthday present from Aunty D at Camel Diaries, and then another whopper from Uncle J.
I jest not when I say that there are Legos EVERYWHERE. (We found one in a flowerpot today….)
Still, Legos are a toy that I am heartily supportive of because of the kind of mental skills and physical dexterity they seem to encourage.
Including some unexpected ones, like Athos’ discovery of stop-motion video. He got the idea from some Youtube videos he watched and bugged me to let him try making one. I demurred initially, worried that a 7-year-old and a functioning (even if old) digital camera didn’t seem like a very wise combination.
I’ve mentioned TED before – Technology Entertainment Design, a conference that takes place every year in California, bringing together some of the most fascinating people and ideas into a potent brew.
Its organisers have made videos of the talks available for free viewing and I highly recommend exploring the site for a stimulating exploration of new ideas, practices and technologies.
Here are two of TED’s most-watched videos that I think kids might enjoy. An ovation to a mathematical mind, and the wonders of God’s creation.
Rachel over at Stormin’ Evanston shared this absolutely wonderful website – someone who calls himself the Rev Brendan Powell Smith has recreated scenes and Bible stories using nothing but Lego bricks.
Rapturous applause for ingenuity and sheer devotion to his craft!
I just read the news that Randy Pausch has passed away.
Prof Pausch taught virtual reality at Carnegie Mellon. A month after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he delivered a lecture titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” which became an Internet sensation and has been watched by millions. An inspiring hour from a courageous man.
Late to the party but I’ve just learnt that the talented Yasmin Ahmad was hired by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports to shoot an ad for Singapore’s pro-family campaign! If you’ve been a longtime consumer of Singapore’s campaigns, then you’ll understand why this is about as out-of-box as it gets. Good on MCYS!
If you liked this, please treat yourself to more of Yasmin’s work. Among her most well-known are the festive season ads she does for Petronas. These two are my favourites.
Recently, there has been some national introspection about whether we are becoming less rugged as a people. It’s not something anyone can answer scientifically, but judging from the anecdotes, the answer is an unsurprising yes.
This op-ed from Red Sports speaks to that subject, and I must say it was discouraging to read that the numbers participating in track and field at the school level is on the decline. Not to mention schools giving up Sports Day. And defocusing on those sports in which they are unable to win awards
Have we lost sight of what’s important?
At least one school hasn’t. Seng Kang Primary has daily PE. And if you know anything about the primary school curriculum, then you’ll know how much vision and leadership it takes for a primary school to sustain that commitment.
Good on them. And as parents, let’s encourage our schools to do what’s right by our kids.
Like this one, that gives you the perfect cover for stealth consumption of literary classics at the office. As a lover of literature, I thought this was one of the cleverest things I’ve seen on the web in a long while!
After receiving this in my inbox for, like, the fourth time, I thought I would finally read it (yes it can take a few tries to get through to me, even with many compelling reasons for me to have read it the first time….)
JK Rowling spoke at this year’s Harvard commencement proceedings. An out-of-box choice given that previous commencement speakers include political and business heavyweights like Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Bill Gates.
Some time back, I posted a video clip called Momsense, by comedian Anita Renfroe. Watch it if you haven’t, because it’s just hilarious, and has become one of those viral phenomena that has been watched by millions around the world.
Anyhow, my fellow blogger Mommy-fied has discovered Renfroe’s sequel called Dadsense. And I think you’ll agree it’s a fitting and eloquent rejoinder
Please stop everything you’re doing and go over to Storyline Online. It came up in one of my feeds today and after reading a few of the raves, I had to go over and check it out for myself.
Utterly delightful.
The concept is similar to Tumblebooks (another website which I raved about in an earlier post) – children’s books read aloud online. But in the case of Storyline Online, the reading is done by established screen actors like Sean Astin and Elijah Wood (from the “Lord of the Rings” movies), Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”), Jane Kaczmarek (“Malcolm in the Middle”), and even Al Gore.
Nothing like being read to, and I was completely captivated.
The stories comes with suggested activities and a downloadable activity guide, and some also have reader’s theatre versions.
A website I go to regularly is Red Sports. Its mission is to tell the Singapore sports story, a narrative that is often neglected by the local dailies which are heavily skewed towards international sports.
Anyway, Red Sports put up an interview with the parents of Nicolette Teo, one of Singapore’s star swimmers. In kiasu, hypercompetitive Singapore, I thought their wisdom was a breath of fresh air.
This interview with up-and-coming Singapore politician Grace Fu focuses on her role as a parent. It struck me as containing many nuggets of parenting wisdom. I submit it for your consideration.
Grandpa and Grandma took the boys for the weekend so Pilgrim Dad and I got to have a date last night. We haven’t done this as regularly as we used to ever since the Primary One early-morning action began, so we really relish our alone time when we get some!
After church on Saturday evening, we headed over to Tuckshop for dinner. I had eaten there once on the recommendation of a friend, and liked the place a lot. It’s a little hole in the wall along Tanjong Pagar Road (opposite the Duxton shophouses) and serves low-key, good quality, cafe food. Pilgrim Dad had the fish and chips, and I had the steak sandwich, both of which are among their more popular dishes. But the revelation for me was the ice-cream, which they bring in from Ice Cream Chefs. If you follow this blog, you might know that the Pilgrim family are big fans of Island Creamery. So it was a great delight to discover another establishment that creates its own locally-flavoured ice-cream. Pilgrim Dad had the Nutty Peanut Butter, and I had the Nutella Delight. I discovered later that they have other local flavours like Milo Peng, Durian Decadence and Kaya Lotee. Oh my!
After dinner, we went home and watched Akeelah and the Bee, a DVD which we had rented. Thoroughly enjoyable, and I would heartily recommend it for any family movie night. The movie is about Akeelah, an 11-year-old black girl from the inner city who aspires to win the national spelling bee. The story is a classic tale of the underdog, well told through a strong script and sterling performances by Keke Palmer (Akeelah), Angela Bassett as her mother, and Laurence Fishburne as her tutor. The film is rated PG due to some “light” profanity, and was also criticised for stereotyping Asians, but is otherwise heartwarming and eminently watchable.
