“This controversy seems to come up because people are offended by combining sex appeal and yoga…but sex appeal is already all over the mass-media in many forms, both in-your-face and subtle. We all are highly influenced by the sex/shame controversy and it’s beyond yoga.
I am unfazed to see it come into yoga because the tradition has already turned into an american commodity. If we use sex to sell everything, and we want to sell yoga, of course we are going to use sex. In my personal opinion is that the video shows a great home practice, with a beautiful body, in some clothing that one would naturally wear while practicing at home.
We must be bigger than sex, bigger than capitalism, and bigger than nudity to thrive, and the fact that this yogini is not ashamed triggers people’s shame of themselves, of others, and of our own society.”
- from elephantjournal.com
all those prudes/feminists/purists/plain-jealous-women who made a big fuss over this should just take a few ujjayi breaths and a chill pill, i say…
“Life is easy if you don’t live it.
If you put yourself out there…especially these days on the internets…we’re all putting yourself out there not only for accolades or backslaps…but for criticism. Criticism is essential, and helpful—when and if it’s constructive. But…particularly these days on the internets…criticism is all too often as lazy and casual as it is vicious. We forget there are humans behind the targets we throw our words at.”
–> interview with the brave and beautiful yogini herself at huffingtonpost.com (ps: she has a 7-yr-old kid too!)
****
hmm, so how about this guy then, in nothing but a white loin cloth? ok for him coz he’s 1) a man, 2) non-Western, 3) set against a gritty backdrop, 4) not in an advertisement for a yoga studio…? ahh.
(speaking of which, dear True Yoga: STOP CALLING ME ALREADY.)
(and while we’re at it, dear yoga-apparel-brands: Y U NO sell your stretchy halter tops and pants at more ’spiritual’ prices?! i don’t get.)
“I know I’m a Luddite on this, but there’s something very personal about a book and not one of one thousand files on an iPad, something that’s connected and emotional, something I grew up with and that I want them to grow up with… I recognize that when they are my age, it’ll be difficult to find a ‘dead-tree book’. That being said, I feel that learning with books is as important a rite of passage as learning to eat with utensils and being potty-trained.”
speaking of dead trees and the importance of paper, oliver jeffers’ The Great Paper Caper is our current favourite read. it’s about a group of forest inhabitants who realise their trees were mysteriously disappearing, and with some investigation, discovers the culprit to be a bear who was stealing the trees to make paper for a paper plane competition.
this is one of those beautiful books where each time you pore over it, you’ll find something that will spark off different discussions (community living; the process of solving crimes; the justice system; family traditions; industrialisation; recycling and environmentalism, etc etc). seemingly heavy themes to explore with a kid, but heck, it is in essence a fun ‘whodunnit’ story for children, who will no doubt enjoy pointing out the clues to solve the mystery. the quirky illustrations will tickle kids and adults alike (animals and people on stick-like legs, a pig that pees like a dog and cooks bacon in a pan ha ha), and tonight i pointed out how the trees progressively showed the passing of seasons. living up to my oft-repeated mantra to them: “mummy knows EVERYTHING”.
kinda like oliver jeffers’ The Incredible Book-Eating Boy. (we’ll talk about that one another time.)
now excuse me, mummy needs to tackle her growing pile of dead-trees on her bedside table… while daddy is beside her READING OFF HIS KINDLE. (hmph, e-books. *scoff*)
was reading to the kids in bed as usual last night, and the husband whipped out his iphone to show me this.
i think i’d vaguely heard of its existence (it was a recent viral sensation), and yes, the title would definitely resonate with MANY parents out there with little children who have up their sleeves, many creative ways and cunning tactics to delay going to sleep.
here’s samuel l. jackson narrating the book – which looks and feels deceptively the kind of beautifully-written and illustrated bedtime story you’d pick up in (vain) hope of putting your kid to sleep – and he sure made it sound so f***ing brilliant.
LOL.
any chance we’ll find this in our local bookstores? get me a copy!
his wobbly tooth finally dropped! well, technically, it got knocked out, thanks to him bumping into his sister by accident. whoops. :p
this was taken after his initial shock at the amount of blood that spilled out of his gum. yes, there were some tears involved, lol. so much for being gungho and teasingly shaking the tooth at me and laughing when i CRINGE.
told him that it’s ok, happens to every kid, and when we were small, ours dropped too. my grandma even extracted one with a string! (sadism runs in the family, apparently.)
the daddy gave him a container to keep the tooth and ALL the future milk teeth that will eventually drop off. to make him feel better, we even told him to put the tooth under his pillow… (so, what IS the market price these days?)
google ‘kebaya’ and you’ll land on an entry in – where else – wikipedia..
“History
The name of Kebaya as a particular clothing type was noted by the Portuguese when they landed in Indonesia. Kebaya is associated with a type of blouse worn by Indonesian women in 15th or 16th century. Prior to 1600, kebaya on Java island were considered as a sacred clothing to be worn only by royal family, aristocrats (bangsawan) and minor nobility, in an era when peasant men and many women walked publicly bare-chested.”
*cue chuckles at last line*
“Modern Innovations
Apart from traditional kebaya, fashion designers are looking into ways of modifying the design and making kebaya a more fashionable outfit. Casual designed kebaya can even be worn with jeans or skirts. For weddings or formal events, many designers are exploring other types of fine fabrics like laces to create a bridal kebaya.
Modern-day kebaya now incorporate modern Western tailoring innovations such as clasps, zippers and buttons- zippers being a much appreciated addition for ladies’ requiring the bathroom, without requiring being literally unwrapped by a helper- to the extent the true kain is near unanimously rejected.
Other modern innovations have included the blouse baju kebaya worn without the restrictive kemben, and even the kebaya blouse worn with slacks or made of the fabric usually for the kain panjang.
Modern kebaya blouses are also zippered at the back- for practicality and for larger frame women’s busts not to literally burst out the front of their blouse.”
seriously, WHO WROTE that last part??
and also… would anyone care to edit that wiki entry with an even more updated ‘modern innovation’? ;D
Since Earth Day is just around the corner, I’ve lined up a few activities for the kids during the weekend to create awareness on the importance of doing our bit for mother earth. If you don’t know what on earth is Earth Day (where have you been?), let me try to break it down for you, ya?
Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment, and will be held on April 22. We can show our appreciation by getting involved in environmental activities such as beach clean-ups, tree plantings, or park restoration.
Appreciation for Earth Day begins at home, too. Parents can teach their children about energy conservation by turning off lights and appliances when leaving the room. (something that I’m guilty about not doing, sometimes!) Teach them to turn off the water while brushing their teeth and use a mug to wash up.
Parents can also encourage their kids to recycle things in the house. Teach them about the value of a product that can be turned into something with a new life, such as an aluminum can or a plastic water bottle. Well, the list goes on!
And to commemorate Earth day, Playhouse Disney will be airing Handy Manny and Friends’ episodes that deal with the importance of preserving the environment on 22 April, Thursday.
There will be also a Handy Manny Earth Day contest. Enter Manny’s Mini Garden and tell us how you can get handy with the earth by drawing on a sketch pad. Hey, you stand to win a Handy Manny Garden Tool!
Help Handy Manny save the planet by sending your green messages!
Just log on to www.playhousedisney-asia.com/earthday.html and click on Handy Manny’s Earth Day icon to enter the site. Click on Manny’s Mini Garden and get creative! There are plenty of brushes and colours to help you and your kids to send your green message.
And don’t forget, let your children learn more about Earth Day on Playhouse Disney (Starhub Channel 34), 22nd April, 9am – 2pm.
my cousin is such a passionate writer when it comes to cars. so proud there’s someone in the family who actually writes for a living (unlike rubbish me who only gets to write replies to the public and draft speeches and papers that get chopped into pieces and… oh enough about me.)
thanks for thinking of aniq. and i’ll get him to like the colour yellow.
ps: this one’s still up for grabs, girls… (and i mean the cousin. ok, the car too.)
=*=*=*=*=*
The funky little one
Story & pictures by Azfar Hashim – 28 May 2009
Small and fresh, that’s what the 107 is all about
Peugeot 107
Aniq is my four year-old nephew, and for a boy his age, he’s rather chatty, smart and active. Case in point – I can get breathless just going after him, and his never ending questions can easily numb my mind. But fortunately, he’s a very obedient little boy. You can let him loose – running around like any other child his age – but call him out, reason out with him and he’ll gladly listen. And he never fails to put a smile on my face.
Driving Peugeot’s updated 107 pretty much reminds me of Aniq (you’ll understand why I say so along the way – read on).
I smiled widely at the first sight of the 107. And in this particular shade of yellow, well, is such an attention grabber. Somehow, I swear the car winked and smiled back at me every single time I unlock it. Err…really.
Exterior
The bulk of the update focuses on the face of the car. It gets a slightly reshaped bumper (that gives an additional 15mm length) with wider honeycomb grill, topped off with a chrome strip running horizontally across. There are also additional vents at the sides, but those are merely for aesthetic purposes above anything else.
At 3,445mm long, the car looks rather small and compact when viewed from the side. The upswept A-pillars which ends almost vertically downwards towards the C-pillar definitely gives the car a bulbous stance. Cute, ain’t it?
From the rear, you can easily mistake the 107 for the smart fortwo. However, the 107’s looks more prolific all thanks to your typical French design flair – a glass hatch that opens up wide, flared wheel arches and smoothly-shaped rear bumper.
Pity the factory-fitted tyres though. With 14-inch hubcaps wrapped in 155/65 R-14 Continental tyres, it looks way undersized – not doing any justice to the already lovable exterior.
we had our first official friendly match of the season at the tampines safra astroturf pitch last night. although we just break fast 2 hours prior to the match, the guys really showed their mettle against a much younger opponents (at least for the first half, hehe)
the team gelled well even though this was the first time that we played. kudos to the team coach, powerdol for his shrewd first half tactics. we were indeed surprised to be 3-1 up by halftime. goals scored by loki and jon in the first half plus a gift goal from the opponent gave us a commanding 2 goals advantage.
but in the second half, it was a different story. the opponent team perhaps shellshocked by footsie, regrouped and came up stronger. maybe its our lack of fitness that let us down. they came up eventual 4-3 winners
credit has to be given to the younger opponents with their never say die attitude, they kept running while we, mostly daddies with buncit tummies, content to just take it easy. but overall it was a commendable performance by footsie fc. i can see the potential of the team. with more matches and training, we can indeed be a force to be reckoned with
ps: thanks to the WAGs that supported us throughout the match.
so i missed out on the whole ‘wah, 16 weeks!’ hoo-ha, because i just HAD to give birth four months ago instead of like… NOW. (yeah they brought forward the starting date to aug 08 instead of jan 09 because some clever mums-to-be started a petition on a motherhood forum. gah!)
dang it. there goes one month’s worth of $alary i could have $aved.
and somehow the whole slew of ‘incentives’ or ‘dangled carrots’ didn’t send me to the moon and back either.
because, just what IF i do decide to throw in the towel and do the sahm thing for real (as opposed to fantasy, which is what i’m living in now)?
then, the extra childcare leaves, paid or unpaid, would have no impact on me.
i would have no income, so nothing in it for me there in terms of tax reliefs.
the extra cash gifts? too late for that too. bah.
and if i really were a sahm, no change in subsidies if i decide to send my kids to pre-school because, you know, sahm’s children don’t *really* need to have a headstart with an EC education since their mums have all the time in the world to do the ‘teaching’ themselves, like make their own flash cards and paste words on all the furniture around the house, etc. right? :S
so it was with much interest and enlightenment that i read a forum letter by a certain ST reader.
Mistake to ignore stay-home mothers
I WATCHED Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech and realised just how much the Government values the working mum and how little the stay-home mother.
I felt disappointed and discriminated against. The Government is simply not interested in persuading stay-home mothers to have more children, presumably because we are not contributing to the economy. Tertiary-educated homemakers like me have been chastised for wasting taxpayers’ money on our education. We are constantly reminded that as it is our personal choice, we do not merit any incentives.
Stay-home mums willingly give up their financial independence and put their aspirations on hold because they believe that it is worth it.
They do so despite the disincentives, not because of any pro-creation benefits. They need no convincing about the joys of parenthood and do not fret about lost opportunities.
Doesn’t that make them the perfect candidates to have more babies? And surely, they need less persuading.
Stay-home mothers are not asking for handouts, just equality. Give our husbands (the sole breadwinner in our household) the tax incentives you are dishing out to working mums.
With our burdens eased, we may consider having more children. It wouldn’t cost the Government as much as the two-month extended maternity payout to the working mums, and may yield far greater results.
Stay-home mums are neither quitters nor parasites. They play an important role at home and are often active community volunteers. Educated homemakers want to stay active and return to the workforce when their children grow up.
The Government should respect a woman’s decision to stay home to care for her children, and provide opportunities for her to re-enter the workforce later.
I am fortunate to have started my family early and have discovered other passions while staying home with the children. I am now pursuing a second degree part time in preparation for my re-entry to the workforce when my youngest child goes to secondary school. I shall be 45 years old then, and not too old to embark on a second career.
I urge the Government to consider a two-pronged approach to boost birth-rates. It is already bending over backwards for the working mums and should consider stay-home mothers too.
We are women, we can bear children and we are willing to do so.
Lee Sui Yi (Madam)
man oh man, i wish i’d come up with that myself! i really couldn’t have said it any better.
i mean, i’m not exactly… uneducated. i would, or at least hope to, raise educated children too. while a sahm may not directly contribute to the economy, wouldn’t this be a kind of contribution in the grander scheme of things? and wouldn’t sahms be the more willing women to devote more time to procreating and adding to the population level, if anything, to justify their existence?
never mind the single working bees – let the sahms be the queen bees and do all the multiplying for you! come on, i even have the child-bearing hips and the child-nourishing boobs as guarantee and added bonus!
i was watching an episode of House on AXN the other day (which had the All American Rejects doing cameo in the opening!), about a rock & roll photographer who was five months pregnant and had a sudden stroke.
she had what was called the Maternal Mirror Syndrome, where the mother’s health mimics the distress level of the unborn baby. she suffered almost immediately from liver failure, kidney failure, jaundice, and basically, both their lives were threatened if the baby was not terminated.
House, being his practical, cynical self, tried to convince the mother to terminate her pregnancy and save herself, all the while insisting on referring to it as a “fetus” instead of “baby”, but the mother steadfastly refused and gave him two days to “fix it”.
so he performed a surgery on the baby in utero, cutting open the mother’s womb in the process, and here’s where time stopped, for Dr House and probably all the viewers of this episode (well, for me at least) – the baby’s tiny hand reached out of the womb, touched his finger, and squeezed it.
pretty much like this.
the difference is, this picture here was NOT staged or televised, but a real-life case where doctors performed a spina bifida corrective surgery in 1999 on a baby who was still in the womb, and from which this particular episode of House was based on.
the baby seems to be shaking the surgeon’s finger in gratitude, thanking him for saving his life, and testifying to his determination and strength to survive. wow.
so would you *still* call this being a “fetus”, then?
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