The Paradoxical Commandments

By Dr. Kent M. Keith

 

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.

All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

 

 

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

 

From “The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring” novel by J. R. R. Tolkien

Join (RED)

RED has always been my favorite color. I first stumbled upon Product (RED) at GAP store here in the U.S. with a very unique and creative design of good quality T-shirt that has a number of meaningful words literally end with (RED). Since then, I became a fan of Product (RED) and support the concept and principle of the partner companies that try to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS problem in Africa and do something to solve the problem.

As December 1st is the World Aids Day, it is a good time to do something to help. That’s why I decided to update my blog post after a long absence. You may visit <http://www.joinred.com/> to find out more about Product (RED) and the way to help make a difference!

(RED) on Twitter: <http://twitter.com/joinred>

(RED) on Facebook: <http://facebook.com/joinred>

The Cove

The Cove - Film Poster

“The Cove” is a very interesting documentary film about the massive slaughter of dolphins in the town of Taiji in Japan. The film follows the special operation team led by Louis Psihoyos, the director of the film himself, who was inspired by Richard O’Barry, a former dolphin trainer who was a part of the famous TV series “Flipper”. O’Barry blamed himself of starting the dolphin mania across the globe and creating the “dolphin” related business that led to the massacre of the dolphin in “the cove”.

The film is well edited with footage from various sources, but the most important footage is the one at the climax of the film that shows the successful result of the special operation. A film description at Sundance Film Festival 2009, where the film won the Audience Award, web page perfectly summarized the film:

“Part environmental documentary, part horror film, part spy thriller, The Cove is as suspenseful as it is enlightening. The final result is a heart-wrenching, but inspirational, story that shows the true power of film in the hands of people who aren’t afraid to risk everything for a vital cause.”

I highly recommend the film to everyone. Please help spreading the word to stop the killings of the dolphins.

5 stars out of 5 – It’s the truth that has to be told.

Related Links

• Official Website
• The Cove at Sundance Film Festival 2009

The Inauguration of Barack Obama

It’s been such a long time since my last update which accounted for the winning of the American presidential race by Barack Obama. Well, I am so busy with my work lately that I don’t have time to write any new entry in this blog. Anyway, today marks a special day in American history as it’s the presidential inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama which reflected the time for hope and change. As my last entry was about Obama, it’s a good idea to write this entry in the day of his inauguration.

I visited Washington D.C. last month on my winter break and as I saw the Capitol Hill and the National Mall full with crowd, it is magnificent sight to see how excited people feel about the new administration. Hopefully, things will be better. Hope and change are what we wait for.

CNN >>> The 44th President Inauguration

Barak Obama is the 44th President of the USA

After a long and exciting presidential race that began more than 2 years ago, Barak Obama has been officially elected as the new President of the United States of America today. This election could be considered as a historic moment for American politics, as Obama is the first Afarican American to be elected as the President of the USA. He promises that he will bring changes to the Executive Office in Washinton, D.C. Overwhelmed with economical problems, changes and hopes are what most American needed. Hopefully, the end of Bush’s presidency and the beginning of Obama’s office will bring about real change and the better America.

Congratulations to the president-elect Barak Obama.

Below is Obama’s speech on victory from Youtube.

San Francisco Bay Area Trip

Lately, I haven’t had a chance to update my blog as often as I used to. I am not sure if there still be anyone following my post here anymore. Anyway, I decided to write a short journal of my recent trip to San Francisco Bay area here for the sake of memory.

From October 18 to October 22, 2008, I had a chance to visit San Francisco Bay area for the first time. My friend from Thailand came for a conference in Mountain View, California and he invited me to be his guest at the conference. It was a good chance for me to fly from Portland to San Francisco and traveled around the city and then met up with my friend for the conference. I spent the weekend in San Francisco, visiting various famous spots of the city including the Golden Gate Bridge, the famous Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 (where you could watch tonnes of sea lions on the pier), Coit tower, Lombard street (the crookedest street in the world) and the Palace of Fine Arts. I also had a chance to visit Stanford University in Palo Alto and the NASA Ames Research center in Mountain View. All in all, it’s an enjoyable and memorable trip.

Below is the video I took at Pier 39. You may notice the noise of those sea lions.

I also included the gallery of photos of my trip here as well.

New Microsoft Ad Campaign – Bill Gates & Jerry Seinfeld in Shoe Circus

I have just had a chance to watch the new TV advertisement from Microsoft featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. This ad campaign debuted in the U.S. on September 4, 2008 as an attempt to reconnect Microsoft with the customers around the globe. In fact, I couldn’t make any sense out of this commercial. Anyway, according to Microsoft PressPass, there will be more commercial and advertisement coming up and this first ad is intended to spark the conversation about Windows brand. Well, it might be effective in the sense that people will talk about this ad as I did here in my blog. At least, the advertisement served its purpose. We’ll have to wait and see what is next for Microsoft and its competitors.

You may check out the ad here.

Here is the archive from Microsoft Official Press Release:

Microsoft Kicks off Windows Campaign with Star Power
Sept. 4, 2008
More than just a quirky ad about nothing, the newest Microsoft ad for Windows signals the beginning of a series of initiatives to improve consumers’ experience with Windows products – in retail, on the Web and working with manufacturers to make PCs faster and easier to use. > more

Michael Phelps Made Olympics History

Michael Phelps on Time Magazine Cover - 2004

I always enjoy watching Olympics game as it shows achievement of human in sport. It gives an inspiration that you could win if you try hard enough and nothing is impossible. The Games of the XXIX Olympiad or the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics Game proves to be phenomenal as the records were shattered and the history has to be rewritten.

Halfway into the game, after the eye-popping grand opening on 08-08-2008 had been a talk of the town, Michael Phelps, the 23-year-old U.S. swimmer became the first man in the history to win 8 gold medals from 8 competitions that he competed in. More remarkable thing is the fact that he set up the new world records on all of his wins except one event (100 m Butterfly) which he set the Olympic record anyway. In fact, the event was exciting to watch as he won his opponents by a mere 0.01 second – the least margin possible. In whatever way we see, Michael Phelps’ achievement will be remembered and be an inspiration for the younger generation to challenge in the years to come.

It might be a coincident but number 8 is considered as a lucky number in Chinese language. Michael Phelps’ 8 attempts for 8 gold medals would definitely be a charm for the Beijing Olympics game.

Paris Hilton for U.S. President???

This is a funny story that merged U.S. politics and pop-cultures together It all began when the presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain aired a TV campaign ad comparing his opponent, the presumptive Democrat presidential candidate Barak Obama, as a celebrity like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. It was an attempt to devalue Obama’s status. However, the ad seems to backfire as Paris Hilton responded to the ad with her “hot” policy. CNN and BBC repeatedly played with the story. Well, at least, it is enjoyable to see the light side of this presidential campaign. Who knows? Paris Hilton and Rihanna (???) her running-mate for Vice-president might get the post at the White house (even in the next Hollywood spoof films). We may even see some souvenirs or T-shirts bearing the sign “Paris for President!” in the near future. It’s very interesting to see the dynamics of politics and pop-cultures that go hand-in-hand.

The original McCain’s ad could be viewed below:

Paris’s response (exclusively from funnyordie.com) could be viewed below:

Related Links

• Original Paris Hilton’s ad at FunnyOrDie.com
• CNN >>> Paris Hilton fires back at McCain’s “Celeb” ad
• BBC >>> Hilton spoof hits back at McCain