SeaDemon Says

Here I am sitting down in front of this PC listening to 94.5 Love FM, a Thai radio station. I just cannot describe how much I really miss Thailand. I remember some 13 years ago, when I used to do the same. Then there was no Internet radio, so I switched on my trusted old radio and listened to songs by Tik Shiro, Jetrin Wattanasin, while my daughter Noor Farhanah would dance (she was only a year old then).

I don’t know what it is about Thailand that I love and miss so much. Even when I’m in Krungthep, I’d somehow get away from the hustle and bustle and traffic jam, and get to the banks of the Chao Phraya river, capturing sunsets. No matter how, I would always find the time to get away and enjoy the sceneries of Thailand and grasp the Thai feeling. There is always this Thai-ness in everything..the ambience and identity that is almost always absent in other metropolis. Even in Hat Yai, which most would consider an extension of Malaysia, as it is almost always flooded with Malaysians that you can count the number of Thais you would see by the road side, there is that unique Thai identity if you know how to find it, and feel it. Which is why most friends I know, girls and guys alike, will always tell me how they miss Thailand.

It has been a while since I last visited Thailand. Almost seven months now. I am yearning for Thailand now. Hopefully I get to return to Thailand in December.

61 years ago today, the US Army Air Force dropped the “Fat Man” atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Nagasaki was not the primary target. It was supposed to be Kokura, where most of the military arsenal were. However, conditions did not allow them to bomb Kokura, so they switched to the nearest secondary target.

At 11.01am, Captain Kermit Beahan, the bombardier of the Bockscar flown by Captain Frederick C Bock, saw a break in the clouds over Nagasaki and released the bomb. 43 seconds later the bomb exploded 469 meters above the city, nearly 3 kilometers away from the planned hypocenter. The blast was confined to the Urakami Valley and a major portion of the city was spared, unlike Hiroshima which was 90% destroyed.

At Hiroshima, some 80,000 people were killed instantly, while in Nagasaki, some 70,000 did.

Let us pray that Nagasaki will forever be the last city to suffer an atomic bomb attack.

61 years ago yesterday the United States Army Air Force’s B-29 bomber dubbed “Enola Gay” dropped an Atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The rest is history.

It may have been, arguably, the most correct decision then given the recalcitrant nature of the military hotheads in Japan who refused to surrender to the Allied Forces. But it was the Japanese people who had to pay for the sins of their rulers.

Two days later, on the 8th August 1945, a second Atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki, and the Japanese government capitulated. Tens of thousands more died immediately. Hundreds of thousands died in the following years due to radioactive sickness.

Let us all strive for the the end to all hostilities in this world and make it a better place. Let us hope that the two bombs dropped will be the only ones ever to be used to kill human beings.

So this session’s winner is Faizal, the kid from Terengganu. Well, he’s not bad really, but a bit bland for me. Considering he’s had 9 weeks of intensive training.

No, like football, I don’t really watch Akademi Fantasia. I hate it when the choice of winners lie in the hands of untrained people like me. So what should these kids be judge according to? Looks? Talent?

I cannot say anything about Akademi Fantasia Season 1. I didn’t watch any of it until the last concert. I remember Azizi’s headbutting of Aznil Nawawi. I watched Season 2 because of Bob, who consistenly performed the very best, but because he is not what the public wants to see win, he did not. Bob is a real talent. When he sang the song entitled “Laguku Untuk Mu” originally sang by Hasnol, he moved my heart.

AF3 saw several gems that did not get chosen either because they did not have the looks, or they don’t have the correct background. Felix sang well. He can hit the highestand lowest of notes without even batting an eyelid, and was always consistent. Idayu, a powerhouse, who probably did not make it to the finals because she did not have the right body cut. Then Amylea…superb performer. Alas, she did not win because none of the female voters would vote for her, and the guys don’t find her good-looking enough.

This season saw several more gems. Haziq, the kid who was always struggling for votes. Boy, can he sing malay traditional songs. He, like Bob of AF2, moved me. Then we have Zila who was voted out a few weeks prior to the finals. I would say she would sing well in the same genre as Haziq. She does have good voice. And my biggest disappointment was Farhan. I would have fasted a day had she won. Such a powerhouse. Of course, the guys wouldn’t waste money voting her. She finished 2nd Runner Up, while Haziq was fourth.

That is the reality of reality shows. Where fantasies come true, and the true and real gems are left out.

I’m tired.