eyecatcher's blog

hero

Central to so many world great mythologies and religions is the story of a hero and a journey that transforms him. From his quiet life at home, the hero is called to action and must set off to the unknown in the quest of his own particular grail.

After a series of lesser trials en route to his goal, he must then face a supreme challenge. If he passes this, he is able to take home the knowledge he has gained from his travels. The idea of the hero and his testing odyssey carries echo of the journey we all make from birth to death.

We all can be heros of our own lives if we choose to be.

Angel love

I sit and wait
does an angel contemplate my fate
and do they know
the places where we go
when we´re grey and old
´cos I´ve been told
that salvation lets their wings unfold
so when I’m lying in my bed
thoughts running through my head
and I feel that love is dead
I’m loving angels instead

Angels, Robbie Williams

Siempre en mi Corazon (Always…

Bai Ling : I don't understand why you carry on so with women.
If you meet one good woman, isn't she enough? Why delay time?

Chow Mo-wan : A man like me has nothing but time.
I need to find people to meet my needs.

Bai: You treat people like time-fillers?

Chow: Not really. Sometimes, I lend my time to others.

Bai: What about tonight? Are you borrowing my time or am I borrowing yours?

- 2046, a film by Wong Kar-wai

poetry of the sea

It's just a thought. We don't really own anything. We are just custodians of our things until we pass it on. No matter how much we cherish something, we have to give it up one day. We came into this world with nothing and we go out of this world with nothing.

Of mice and men

I met this man on the train on my way home. He's a security guard who has finished his shift. When I took his picture, the people behind were amused because his pet mouse(rat?), Vermin was playing peekaboo. He travels with Vermin to work everyday. Beats human for company.

 

 

Sometimes a subject is so dramatic, it is very hard for the photographer not to take a good picture.

But, a photographer chooses his subjects, and that, too, is an important part of having a great eye. So having a great eye is not only about composition but the instinct to find good subjects to photograph. That is the most underrated skills of a good photographer; more important than taking a good picture is to find a good picture to take. 

 

 

Almost with you

 

"Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who's in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It's like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven't seen in a long time."

- Kafka on the shore, Haruki Murakami

All Hearts Dream

The heart is the sleeping beauty and love the only kiss it can't resist.
Even as eyes lay open wide, there is a heart that sleeps inside,
and it's to there you must be hastening, for all hearts dream,
they dream only of awakening.

- Nicholas Klein

The human clock

Hundreds of clocks in laboratories around the world set and capture universal time accurate to one second within 3000 years. They make it virtually impossible for time to slip away from us again.

But perhaps the best timekeeper is the human heart, which measures not the passing of time but the quality of time we've spent. If it's empty, you need to get away from the clock and focus on taking, sharing and losing track of a little time.

Time to be slow, time to dream, time to read.

One of the biggest luxuries

poetry of the sea

in modern life is unscheduled, uncommitted time. Free time. Defend it fiercely and value it. It's not wasted,. Your brain needs it to come up with new ideas.

Dancing in the dark

So what makes a masterpiece? There are two things to look at.

1. A complete unity between style, subject and technique.

2. The belief that art should express an idea greater than art itself. Without such a belief, a commitment to communicate that idea to others, all art, however accomplished technically, is confined to decoration and illustration. Technical skill can fill and decorate spaces, but only an idea connects at a deeper level with the needs of others and can change the way we see things.

To stand out from the crowd requires courage and individuality. Only those endowed with a depth of vision beyond the ordinary, and who use art, not as an end itself or as a means of personal or commercial gratification, but as a means of trying to tell a greater human or spiritual truth, are those who will succeed in creating masterpieces that can survive the sternest crtic of all - time.

- Eyewitness Companions, Art

 

 

 

The boy and the sea

When we want to learn a new creative skill like photography or oil painting, the most natural thing to is to enrol in a course, find someone to teach us or learn from books or works we admire. After learning the basics, we then apply the principles.

The trouble is, many of us lack the confidence to truly express ourselves. Instead often we tend to follow what others have done or stick to a particular style or process that is most familiar or proven. This will only lead to mediocrity and seldom produce original ideas or imaginative works.

Learning art is like a traveller in a coach. At first he can make rapid and safe headway along a stretch of paved road. However when the coach reaches the end of the road, he must alight and continue on foot to find his own independent way. Unfortuntely many choose to remain on the coach.

 

swan lake

How objects are arranged is a form of visual communiation. For example a floral arrangement may tell us about shapes, the effect of juxtapositions of different colours or just the beauty of nature itself. Products displayed on shops windows implicitly conveyed lifestyles that come from associating with those products.

This new insight creates interesting possibilities. We can practice this non verbal form of communication simply by rearranging everyday household things in our lives, for example our desk tops, kitchen table, shoe rack, garage etc,..

Intuitively we arrange things to be organised. But sometimes, the real reason is for aesthetics.

To help us analyse the order of arrangement, here are some guidelines:

1. Hierarchy. The relative visual impact of the objects and auxiliary elements (like background). Generally bigger objects dominate.

2. Alignment. Refers to the spatial orientation of the objects relative to each other. Are they parallel, symmetrical etc.

3.Sensoriality. The characteristices of obejcts like colour and patterns.

4.Metaphor. Refers to the transformation of meanings. Seashells and towel may mean the seashore.

5.Coherence. How everything combine together.

By using these prinpicles as a framework, we can apply a more robust approach to the art of placing things in order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hero

It is my hope that anyone who reads this blog will go away with a new insight. Today I wish to talk about rhetoric. The purpose of rhetoric to make our communication more clear, conscious and rational. Classical rhetorics developed by the Greeks were designed for public speaking. It composed of 5 parts:

1. Invention - identifying and developing our logic and arguments

2. Arrangement- how to organise our arguments into the most effective order

3. Style - putting our arguments into actual language

4. Memory - creating mnemonic devices to help memorise our speech

5. Delivery - using tone of voice, phrasing and facial expressions to convey emphasis and rhythm

 

hanabi

Very often we get worked out about small things that on hindsight aren't a big deal. For example, the supermarket queue is too slow or we have to deal with impatient drivers on the road. Whatever it is,instead of getting upset, try to let go and get on with our day. Too many people spend too much of their energy and time sweating the small stuff that they miss out the beautiful moments in life.

Vintage memories

Yesterday I drove my MGB (circa 1968) to the countryside. The car is a open top classic British roadster with an engine that makes a throaty growl. The wind was caressing my face; the air was fresh and the passing landscape sublime. It was a beautiful day. I'm reminded that, in life, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. Take your time, sieze the day and enjoy the moment.

Since we have just started the new year, it's a good time to reflect on our goals. I am indebted to Jack Canfield's book "How to get where you are to where you want to be" for clarifying some my goals and helping me refocus on what is important in getting on with my life.

One of the most fundanmental principles of success is to take 100% resonsibilities for our life. We tend to take things for granted and when things don't work out as we expect, we tend to blame everything and everyone except ourselves. It's time to stop looking outside and look inside ourselves. If we do not achieve the quality of life we want or own the things we desire, we should take full responsibilty for our present condition and change things. You can't lose weight by asking someone else to do the push ups for you!