MyJourney

Birds in My Backyard

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:38:00 +0000

When stopping by a paddy field after a long holiday break at Kangar, I am so glad to meet some of my feathered friends this morning. Re-positioning myself instinctively, I then aim, shoot, check and confirm, and these are repeated until either the birds leave or my satisfaction reaches a level of 10.

Each of my move is well written, yet you can choose not to agree with. Somehow, I whom people called "young man" have become an "uncle" in the eyes of some uncles recently. You may let out a loud guffaw, only because this is what you are intended to be.

Learning and evolution always take place. You can take over control by outrunning the super computer. Two, three guffaws or whatever number will be solely your decision thereafter.

What if you are smarter and evolve further? You can do a lot more, and will be no more a figment of a computer generated soap-opera. Congratulation.

You can then choose not to guffaw at all.

You may like other posts of this series:

1. Mushrooms from Cyberspace

2. The Game continues

3. New Lunar Year is Downloaded
4. Birds in My Backyard, the last episode

Lunar New Year is Downloaded

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:08:00 +0000

Process of downloading never stops. It takes place very quietly at anytime and in every big or small corner that we who are involved always never aware of it, or not until it has effected us.

The trails of this process happen to be visible, but for a very short moment, at morning Cerok Tokun when sunlight are refracted by mist particles.

Cerok tokun is being updated, so are the rest of the places on the super machine.

Meanwhile, Lunar New Year is being downloaded as well. This latest version that is scheduled to be ready by 23rd of January is Year of the dragon.

Is it bug free but then a too fast version? Will price drop without sacrificing new features? Nevertheless, this must be another excited and adventurous one to be clicked on.

You may like other posts of this series:

1. Mushrooms from Cyberspace

2. The Game continues

3. New Lunar Year is Downloaded

4. Birds in My Backyard, the last episode

The Game Continues

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:08:00 +0000

A new day is switched on: the hibernation mode is interrupted, images re-appear, white LED sparkles, and I am clicked to trek at Cerok Tokun again.

If correctly zooming in, Cicadas, big ants, millipedes, Asian Scorpions, mushrooms and more can be discovered. These items can be collected as points scored or extra lives earned. Someone can log out or shutdown at anytime, but the super server remains in operation. The journey continues.

Clicking on some places allows us to progress to a new level, though old and new may look very similar, and past and future are just a difference of a microsecond.

Once the machine is switched on, the rest will be handled by a simple right- or left- click, or a tap on any key, though "any" key cannot be found on the keyboard. I shall move on, but not Steve Jobs.

"On/off" switches are avoided in Apple products due to his concerns about afterlife, but he was clicked and was forever gone, from his last Windows scene.

The game has to continue.

You may like other posts of this series:
1. Mushrooms from Cyberspace
2. The Game continues
3. New Lunar Year is Downloaded
4. Birds in My Backyard, the last episode

Mushrooms From Cyberspace

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:08:00 +0000

"How do we know we are not just characters in a computer-generated soap-opera?"

A lone mushroom finds itself landing on a mossy land over the night. Is this a fiction of multitasking, or system crash?

Someone is operating a gigantic computer.

We are inside a machine that is too huge to be visualized, but its heat is felt and is getting hotter and hotter nowadays. This phenomenon is what we call global warming.

Some mushrooms have popped up, and disappear very soon in days to come. I hike, I meet them, and I lose them; these are only parts of the written program. And Cerok Tokun is one of the browser screen.

Some other mushrooms climb up a bamboo culm in a dream, and that very often lead to the establishment of so called neurocognitive models of dream, oneirology, or complicated empirical researches. Thoughtfully, many behavior-related articles would be presented, but a dream is indeed the consequence of a viral outbreak, during which a virus infiltrates, and reprograms the host.

The machine is running.

And I am programmed in such a way that my eyes and brain are always weird, though everything appears to be very ordinary. Please bear with me as my photos and thoughts are dictating. My body, and my hand have to just follow.

You may like other posts of this series:
1.   Mushrooms from Cyberspace
2.   The Game continues
3.   New Lunar Year is Downloaded
4.   Birds in My Backyard, the last episode

Birding in a Busy City

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:08:00 +0000

There exists cultural differences between the urban and rural area, and I am not talking about those related to us.

If I have missed my feathered-friends at Fraser's Hill, their cousins returned ironically to me in Mines City. City folks must have lost their minds living in a fast lane, no holiday was celebrated.

What's up? I saw white Egrets, Storks, Common Kingfishers, Pond Herons and more working through Christmas Eve. This was certainly good to me.

And they were never as relaxed as shown in pictures that always deceive us, but busy concentrating, waiting, watching, diving, and catching, and those daily routines repeated again and again, as to entertain us, the visitors.

One of the Pond Herons was found perching on a branch. It moved further up clumsily, trying to keep hidden behind some leaves upon seeing me.

It never flew away, and that seemed odd.

It might need a doctor. Can the charge be double, triple or more during holidays?

City folks lose their minds living in the fast lane.

Only One Bird at Fraser's Hill

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:28:00 +0000

I admire people and their great works, and that often inspires me, hence I visited Fraser's Hill, a dwelling place of over 270 species of birds, recently.

It was seven in the next morning, 15 degree C, drizzly, windy and foggy when I was wandering around. It was quiet, and I was alone.

Birds of Fraser's Hill are over 270 species, I reminded myself. But then only one representative greeted me in the whole morning, the rest might be busy preparing for Christmas. They deserve holiday as we do, I thought.

The photography session proceeded on a flowering plant near the ground, simply because my gears never match those that professional bird watchers used to carry.

The bird tried its very best feeding on nectar in different positions in order to satisfy my need, not to mention many other interesting plays that were wasted due to my inadequacy. It must have met many similar dummies before, the routine was continued until I had had enough.

History of Fraser's Hill can be traced back to more than one hundred years ago, birds of Fraser's Hill are over 270 species, somehow I was saved from the embarrassment of leaving without shooting a bird.

Thanks for your sacrifice, my feathered friend- a grey-breasted spiderhunter.

Happy New Year to you.

Watch, and Being Watched

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 14:28:00 +0000

"When I am old, I just want to rest in peace."

"No more bloody alcohol, no more unplugged rap, and no more aerobatic flights in between fingers."

Somehow, things can never come in control, even after the death of a mosquito.

But when a spider is seen jumping away, coming back, and at the same time involving all its eight eyes in analyzing me, and all these repeat for many times, I understand that the dead body serves very good as a bait.

But then could I be a bait too? While I am watching at them, am I monitored by someone else?

"We may seem lonely, but will never be lonely. Thousands of hidden eyes, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, are looking at us, secretly." The mosquito would rap if it can.

Mengkuang Dam

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:28:00 +0000

Has Nature ever been shocked seeing wrinkles on her face? It is somehow not answerable, but I find her in different faces that look familiar, but never be exact.

Sometimes a tint of orange and pink is used in the makeup, a neutral colour with bright reflection in some moments, she also covers her face with a layer of white veil when the veil is available; she has unlimited ways to keep her beautiful and charming, but has Nature ever been shocked seeing wrinkles on her face?

The use of cosmetic has been known since antiquity, she applied, and she cleansed, and all these repeated with improved formulations, but has Nature ever been shocked seeing wrinkles on her face?

Whenever she was shocked, I know, we should have been shocked, in an amplified magnitude.

Dreamy

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:18:00 +0000

Was the night quiet when a lunar eclipse took place? Might it be just one of the ordinary nights to the critters in the jungle.

The traces of evident in the morning talk.

All the harp strings were broken in the night of the concert. And all critters got completely soaked in the rain; the wetter they were, the hotter the atmosphere, and the longer the night lasted.

A careful search see an exhausted spider sleeping very soundly nearby. A curtain is indeed not required. A pillow is indeed not required.

The bed that makes me feeling dizzy tells me that the spider is still dancing a waltz, in a dream, and is still excited in the dream.

Did the lunar eclipse mean something to the spider? Or could the night be a birthday night to the spider? Anyhow, that must be a splendid concert.

Mosses

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:18:00 +0000

Moss is a weed in grass lawns, and grass is a weed in where moss dominates.

While mosses often grow on substrates, they never dominate by being parasitic. They are nothing great, but their tiny leaves work hard to absorb water and nutrients, which are in turn converted into food in a photosynthetic factory, a factory that I would like to, but can never visit, or take photographs.

Mosses do not bear flowers and fruits. They are simple, yet aesthetic, and mysterious in a close-up. I can get lost in this "mossy forest" if I am an ant, whilst a real ant can never.

What if I write them as mossssssssssssssss? Does this look like a clump of moss?

Mantis, A Legend

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:38:00 +0000

For some reasons, a little mantis had never left a same place for three weeks, be it stormy or sunny, day or night.

A woman climbed up a mountain and watched the South China Sea at every sunrise, in anticipation of the return of her husband. But she fell ill and died after years of waiting.

She turned into a stone that continued watching the sea and waiting for that day. This is the legend of Mount Kinabalu, that of the tiny mantis must be as great.

But I took advantage to make the mantis my model, before it became a stone.

I had ample time for many trials and errors, and many decent shots.

The mantis was disturbed by my camera flash, and reacted terribly in such a way that saw it posing like a professional; that was great!

I felt so great too!! (I put three extension tubes, 36mm, 20mm and 12mm, onto my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens).

That was cruel, and yet the world is cruel. People take advantage whenever circumstances allow. Be you a mantis, a mountain, a stone or else. I am but as cruel.

The mantis transformed from black to green in the fourth week, before turning into a stone.

Hide and Seek

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:18:00 +0000

The little spider wants to avoid me, "No working on Sunday, or pay me double!"

As I am always visible in size, the spider tries to disappear from my sight whenever I arrive. But I am a homo sapiens who always take control of the situation. It can never escape from the corner of my eye as long as it starts losing patience, and makes some movement, though it is tiny.

It is out there posing for me. Who cares about voluntary or otherwise. Result counts.

It stays in the world of homo sapiens, that's it.

"No overtime claim!"

Thinking Out of the "Shell"

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Does a snail think outside or inside the "shell"? It seems like not putting the brakes on its thinking, and action. Its patience is the speed that gets it moving steadily from high to low, from low to high, and at where we cross each other.

It should have plenty of time to spend on thinking during travelling, if it thinks outside the shell. Does it think the mirror image of what I have thought?

What does it see when thinking inside the hot and stuffy shell? It should not think inside the shell. The echoes of its sound of laughter can make it deaf, when thinking of something really funny, as funny as me.

A Weak Triangle

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:11:00 +0000

I found these bees because of porterweed, and I always come back to the porterweed then because of the bees. We have formed a triangle, but bees sip honey and pollinate flowers, the later never get stung.

I need to maneuver very cautiously in the midst of humming sound on the other way, while those flowers continue to live and blossom, even without me.

My vital role is only a paparazzi. I confirm further when I click the next one from a far distance.

What if they tell the press that "they have been chased by a paparazzi, and he run lights, and he chase them and harass them the whole time. And it has certainly gotten worse?"

A Morning with Ladybirds

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 10:18:00 +0000

It was one morning after a rainy night. Every wrinkle of the inconceivable antiquity of nature was well hidden under morning dew, but that never lasted long. The later was evaporated very soon in the warmth of the sun.

I was slow, too slow to capture only a few small drops. I did not explore what the wrinkle would look like, as I was distracted by some obvious ladybirds. And I was lucky, these bugs never got evaporated.

If I continued to be slow, I could be evaporated instead. Could I?

But I was ready to face the sun for many more shots, for those I had the obligation to make sacrifices.

I was still myself, but was suntanned, like what had happened to the ladybirds, in the end.

How silly an old rogue was, in a lovely morning.

Egrets, Cows, and Me

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:08:00 +0000

Egrets and cows are known to be very good friends. I tried to join them this morning.

Did my camera look like the black nose of a cow?

I did not think so.

The egrets had never landed on my back, neither I had succeeded in closing the gap between us. Our relationship only improved during a cow mooed, and I followed, from a far distance.

I thought I was a cow by now, but I was wrong. The egrets flew to the top of a nearby coconut tree, and never came back, no matter how accurate I mooed.

I shall mimic an egret next time, and an orange lens as its beak.

A Rare Visitor

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:38:00 +0000

I have been offered rentals in scottsdale, where natural wonders of the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Asteroid craters, and the most diverse ecosystems in the world can be found.

I was then preoccupied thinking about a rare visitor that asked for a rental too. I explored further, but was so funny to find myself looking at a fake pair of eyes of this Oleander Hawk moth.

So different from most moths or butterflies, it was so cool while being annoyed continuously. I offered this critter a free stay with conditions: eat no grapes and leaves, spoil no flowers, shit no on fruits, and the list would continue.

It said nothing, but silence is consent, and maintained in a comfortable perching position. It should have sensed my good name in the kingdom of critters, a good old man who has license but never kill.

But I might be a fool again. It had actually fallen into sleep right from the beginning. I talked only to deaf ears, yet felt so high, that I used to do.

Anyway, welcome to my garden.

Shoes, Fly, and Me

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:28:00 +0000

Most of the time, I am never normal, I build up illusion. And things got worse recently: I thought of shoes while looking at a hoverfly.

People have been very wary and worry since a long time ago. They wear shoes, as their feet quarrelled with the ground once upon a time. They are cautious until today.

The quarrel could be due to a Athlete's foot. A hoverfly does not have this to spread to the ground. It is then always confident to move around, barefoot.

And since then, people face problems with shoes that a hoverfly will never have. It waste no time to choose which high heels to fly with, which boots to party with, and which sneakers are best for an outdoor activity.

And new problems arise, because of hammer toes, claw toes, mallet toes, or trigger toes. People look for arch support, people look for foot care.

I heard the hoverfly laughing, "Why started the quarrel in the first place?"

This had me never be normal again.

The Nature Talks

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:18:00 +0000

Those in the forest talk through their colors and patterns, poses, or behaviours. They never bore me.

The talk can either be "dynamic" or in the opposite way, this very much depends on how my luck turn up to be.

The talks can be easily missed, and the talks can also be nothing, but they are irreplaceable by the refresh button in a computer screen.

They talk. They smile broadly. They greet me a good day every now and then that I love and eager to hear.

I listen, and my ears never get me in trouble.

Rainbow Waterfall, Sungai Lembing, Continued

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:38:00 +0000

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined" unless we have made the move.

There is no restriction on how we move, though we have only ourselves to rely on sometimes.

And creativity never set itself a limit. We can always enjoy every of these moments, either because of our efforts, or through others'.

I know a stone never talk, but it tells stories, that I always love listening to.

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."....Steve Jobs.

All these are hidden inside a forest.

Gunung Tapis Rainbow Fall, Sungai Lembing

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:28:00 +0000

Confuse, are those concerned for not reacting to the chance to climb the rainbow. Anyhow we were lucky enough as the sun was too shy hiding behind the clouds yesterday.

To reach this fall required about an hour riding a rocking 4x4 vehicle from Sungai Lembing, and another hour wading across rivers, and walking on jungle trek and river banks.

The rainbow varies in position according to the altitude of sun, and diminishes totally before 11am.

A rainbow is an angel who appears only there is romance, and there is mist. She hates "gluteus maximus" that releases vigorous sound. A rainbow never dance at the top of a fall.

Everybody then stayed low enjoying and bathing in a rainbow. This must be an awesome gift.

Panorama Hill, Trees, and Thinkers

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:28:00 +0000

All trees are alike: ground their bed, and sky is the blanket; morning dews the liquor, and breeze is the music.

What if trees sleep and dream, do they see the same?

They may be a thinker in sober mediation, or a philosopher in search of wisdom,

but they regularly fall into a hypnotic trance every day, the aftereffect of the morning scenery.

Hitting by an apple, for sure, is not a strong medicine for inspiration. A durian is. And the truths of life blossom.

Panorama Hill, Sunrise

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:08:00 +0000

5:45am. The slow line was crawling up Bukit Panorama in darkness. People seemed to go on a pilgrimage.

Dots of light twinkled behind a mist of white, and on the foot of the hill, those were that I would have missed if staying inside the scene.

Only when the clouds were willing to give in a little, the sun that moved in silence, wasted no time to wield the painting brush; the hill, and the ridges began to set sail for the first light of the day in the white sea. They seemed to go on a pilgrimage too.

The surrounding was set in tranquility.

East Coast, Peninsular Malaysia, Continued

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:38:00 +0000

There was a Kingfisher and many small fish in the water. The bird should have eaten just enough, it never looked too fat to fly swiftly when I was trying to inch closer.

There were eagles soaring in the sky, and perching on top of trees or a tall pole. They always kept their distance, and continued to be so near yet so far away.

I tried to stare into their eyes, but they never stared into mine.

And then it was South China Sea that aroused some discussions among us: it shrunk East Malaysia that lies in front of us into an invisible dot.

We had reached Pantai Chempedak of Kuantan while talking to you, this was then the third day. Time traveled with us, but at a faster speed.

We should watch the breathtaking morning view of Panorama Hill, Sungai Lembing, tomorrow.

East Coast, Peninsular Malaysia

rainfield61@gmail.com (RainField61) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:18:00 +0000

My camera was not happy with the big red X that crossed a camera on a signboard. This happened outside the entrance to Terengganu State Museum. It then urged me to shoot more, and more, on the coastline. And it found me a grasshopper at Pantai Kemasik (Kemasik Beach).

I wonder whether this grasshopper had taken a ride from Cerok Tokun. But that should not be right, as I saw no grasshopper hopping around me inside my car, or it might have slept all the time due to dizziness. Everything outside the windows slid backwards at accelerating speeds. It should have not experienced this before.

By the way, the grasshopper was so interested to check me by my foot prints, while many know me through my words.

And many others judge people by their appearance, but Buddha said the human body is a skin-bag full of filth. What could possibly be attractive about that?

My camera found me little crabs. They drew textures that looked like creations of aliens. They were, of course, not though the textures looked like crop circles.

Otherwise, we are aliens too for many reasons. We are often big-headed, as big as the head of an alien, if to mention one.

And my camera continued to guide me through.....