the invincible vince papale

amid the much anticipated fei world endurance championship 2008 and the mstt 2008 event going on at terengganu, again i find myself in an empty hotel room with not much of ado. which reminds me exactly why i hate going on company trips.

with no hot shower and internet unavailable, i was driven further into a state of boredom. the only compliment for me was a small idiot box. flicking through the 7 pre-set channels in a perpetual motion, i finally stop upon tuning to star movie. the beginning of the movie was familiar with dim background and portraying nostalgic scenes of america back in the late 70's.

it was a time of recession. people are being laid from work and americans find themselves either jobless or hanging out at bars from dawn till dusk. then i realized it was a movie i saw last year, it was a movie called invincible that saw mark wahlberg as the main character. it was based on a true story of a 30 year old bar tender who played only one year of highschool football and tried to become nfl's unlikely rookie.

vince papale, in the movie was left high and dry by his wife, sharon after loosing his job as a substitute teacher. the only thing left by his wife was a message written on a piece of paper saying "you will never amount to anything, you will never get anywhere in your life". he kept this message as his motivation to succeed in life.


however, papale was blessed with many friends who always stood by him through thick and thin. convinced by his friends to try for an open tryout by the new philadelphia eagles' coach, like any cinderella story vince papale made it to the final cut and continued playing for the eagles for the next three seasons.

why vince papale in particular? papale motivates me to believe that it is never too late to pursue your dreams. at 30 years of age, papale's fortune has changed dramatically from being a bar tender to an all star american football legend. so, to those out there (you know who you are) it's never too late to start something and never give up on your dreams. one day it will come true if you really believe in it. mr. vincent francis papale, my hats off to you...adieu.

yours truly,
ttmb

imaginary friend

when you talk about having an imaginary friend, there's no one in mind better than the highly imaginative boy named calvin. calvin is a six year old boy that has an energetic and sardonic albeit stuffed tiger named hobbes as an imaginary friend. calvin and hobbes are characters that have been creatively put together by the talented bill watterson in a comic strip called calvin and hobbes.

why i love calvin and hobbes? for me, seeing calvin is like seeing myself when i was a young boy. not to say that i had a stuffed tiger and have him as an imaginary friend, but similar to that i would spend my whole day daydreaming and carry with me what most malaysian would refer to as "bantal busuk". similar to a favourite blanket. last but not least, the love that exists between them reminds me of the unconditional love that we have for the ones that we love and how we would go great distance for them.

why i have high admiration for bill watterson? staying true to his beliefs, waterson has a strong anti-merchandising stance. there are almost no legitimate calvin and hobbes merchandise exists outside of the book collections and not to mention the characters were never appeared on tv compared to other comics such as garfield and peanuts. by doing so, readers are left to...imagine...such as how calvin's voice sounds like, etc.

the 3,160th and final strip ran on sunday, december 31, 1995. it depicted calvin and hobbes outside in freshly-fallen snow, reveling in the wonder and excitement of the winter scene. "it's a magical world, hobbes, ol' buddy... let's go exploring!" calvin exclaims as they zoom off on their sled, leaving, according to one critic ten years later, "a hole in the comics page that no strip has been able to fill"...bill watterson, my hats off to you...adieu

yours truly
ttmb

the truth begins in lies

"it's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies." quoted by the talented hugh laurie or also known by many as our beloved dr. greg house md.

it is interesting that the truth begins in lies. and that's the truth about human beings. we all lie. no matter how we try to deny it, in doing so, we're already lying to ourselves. some might say, there's such a thing as good lies and bad lies. in my opinion, it's just another way of trying to make us feel less guilty when we're lying.

why do we lie? there are many reasons why we lie but it can be summed that we lie, in my humble opinion, is because of fear. we fear of losing the ones we love, our dignity, insecurity and most importantly fear of the truth (reality).

so, is it acceptable to lie? before i answer this, i would ask you a question. what would you do if you ran to a red light at 3 a.m. in the morning, you look right and left, there's no one around, would you drive and beat the red light? well, just keep the answer to yourself as i don't want to be responsible for your sins. but personally, i think at certain level it is acceptable to lie but at the end, you're going to hell for it.

anyway, personally i think to be able to tell the truth or facing the truth takes a lot of courage and it is easier said than done and to those who follow this principle, my hats off to you...adieu.

yours truly,
ttmb