BOLT – THE SUPER DOG

Bolt is a all-white German Shepherd who had lived all his life on the set of a TV show in which he portrayed a superhero dog. As a result he thought that his superpowers were for real. Accidentally, he got separated from the studio and was left stranded in the Nevada desert. He then met Mittens, a female alley cat who bullies pigeons out of their food and a hamster named Rhino, a huge Bolt fan. Along the way, he learns that he doesn't have superpowers and that the show was not realistic.

What will happen next? Is life outside the stage easy for Bolt, knowing that he’s not a superhero dog after all? Does Penny, Bolt’s owner really love him? How did Mittens and Rhino help Bolt in getting back to the studio? Don’t forget to bring your family over to the cinema to watch another rated-PG Walt Disney Animation Studios' computer-animated film this coming season.

HAVING FAITH IN LIFE

It would be a wonderful thing if everyone in this world has at least some compassion in them. It was only two days ago that I had encountered an incident when a man fainted along the pathway of the heavily traffic of Penang Road, in a fit with blood rushing out from his nose and not even a single motorist stopped by to help him. I often wondered if the locals are really a heartless bunch of people or they are afraid of other consequences that might happen if they were to lay a hand to help anyone that is really in need. Although I was already late for an appointment, miles away, I was glad that at least I did my part in calling 991 for an ambulance to send him to the hospital

Speaking about compassion, my heart melted away as I was reading about how a 22-year-old Reuben Stringfellow, a private-first class in the Army, stationed in Alaska, rescued a puppy about to be put to sleep. His mother Jude, who lives in Oklahoma City, took over the task of caring for the poor puppy. Faith, the name given to the Labrador-Chow Chow mix breed female dog, was born in December 2002 with only 3 legs. Its left front leg was amputated at 7-months old when it was found to be deformed and useless. She has to be taught to walk upright by a canine trainer and training was not that easy as everyone thought. I guessed she would be the first bipedal dog that I have known that ought to receive a standing ovation.

This is a great incident where a combination of compassion by the Stringfellow family and having faith in life, can push forward the determination of a canine to live its life to the fullest. Be compassionate. Lend a hand. Encourage some faith and motivation to live on, not only towards animals but also towards those humans surrounding you. Life is not something to be discarded off so easily when there is still hope, faith and willpower to strive on.

A book has been published about Faith entitled “With a Little Faith”. If you check through YouTube, you can see Faith and her owner, Jude Stringfellow, featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show as well as Ripley’s Believe it or Not. You can learn more about Faith at faiththedog.net

I HAVE FINALLY WON!

“It has been a boring Valentine’s Day with no dates, no good animal shows and having to stay at home with a bottle of alcoholic fruit drink in my hand... errr... paws,” said Jonathan. At least I still get some glamor out of it… haha :P

Thanks Deana and her cute gang for awarding Jonathan for the Funniest Valentine Photo in the 2008 Toonces and Rollie Valentine Contest based on cuteness, sweetness, personality and fun. It is an honor to be selected amongst the dozens of photos submitted. Even Jonathan would like to send his warmest thanks to you guys.

The triplets Janice, Jayson and Justin on the other hand were also surprised to find out that their Papa emerged as a winner. There are still too young to be in this limelight yet at only 40 days old. Who knows, they might outshined their Papa in the future?

Jessica also felt surprised as she was too busy taking care of what was left behind by the earlier actions of her so called hubby Jonathan aka Romeo aka Casanova who are still having late nights partying daily.

Bubble was walking up and down grumbling that I did not submit his photos for the contest. Oops…it was my mistake to overlook! Sorry Bubble…next time dear! :P

THE JOURNEY

A dog has decided to go for a trip around the country to see whether the grass is greener over the other side. After a few months, he came back thinner and more stressful. His friends asked him, “Hey mute! Did you face any problems during the trip?” He replied, “I met many people and animals along the way. Some humans were kind enough to feed me food and water and provided me with a cozy place to stay. I managed to have quite a safe trip all the way except for one thing.” Another dog asked, “Except what?” “I tend to have problems with our own kind,” he said while sighing. “Not only did they not leave me alone. They barked at me, chased me and tried to bite me!” he continued.

That is a dog’s life and it has no differences compared to ours. The world we live in does not always cater for our likings. There could be no world or life without problems. To some, the sun, the rain and the wind could be a blessing. To others, it may be the reason behind their sensitive skin problems, weak body immune system against getting flu or even the cause for their rheumatism. Life is not perfectly good or bad for everyone. It is how an individual accept life as it is.

Coming back to the topic on mankind, everyone is born with a brain but why does everyone thinks so differently? Look at the people around the world. Nations grow and die out, empires arise and fall apart, mighty palaces are built but crumble in the dust. What a world we are living in! Mankind lives but afflicted by the ignorance of Mother Nature, draining and raping her of her limited resources. It is the greed for self benefits that ruin the world. Trust no longer exists as they are afraid of intrusion into their life and properties. Fears become brutality when threats are found. Hurting, stealing, raping, killing and murdering have become their second nature.

We have modified the environment so radically that we find it hard to live in it without co-exist our way of living into a newer environment. Greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, sloth, envy and pride have injected their evil effects into our lives. Leading a moral life in our modern society is almost beyond our control. It is a war for the survivors of the fittest and mankind is left behind to fend for himself. This is the law of nature.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND

Many people are lonely inside
And they do need a friend
Some have plenty to spare
While others have merely a handful
If you only count only the true ones
You may end up with none.

Good friends are hard to come by
For many are really selfish within
Materialism, greed and defilements
Have made many lost in disillusionments
They are always around you if you can see
Only the mind can let you understand who you should be

We do not need to have many friends
Having one good one is good enough
You need not spend too much time together
To lighten each others’ woes
As simple caring and sharing
Is all I ever ask from you ever more!

IT’S A DOG’S LIFE OUT THERE

(Featuring my dog Bubble)

A LIFELONG COMPANION

If you have noticed it, my whole blog theme has been changed to go in line with the advertisement shown in the Nuffnang Ads. It is an advertisement by SPCA Selangor. I am an animal lover by nature and I am going to share with you the advantages of owning a pet. Pet plays an important role in our lives as they can help us physically, emotionally socially and security.

How does owning a pet or some pets help in a family? First and foremost, it helps us to have some healthy values such as lowering high blood pressure, preventing heart disease and combating depression. Pets do help us to live more energetic lives. Walking a dog or even watching those fishes swimming in your aquarium indeed does help. By taking your dog out for a run, you will get more exercise too. It has been proven that those who own pets at home have less arthritis or backbone problems. What about fishes? In Japan, it is believed that all offices have at least one aquarium. By watching the greeneries of the aqua landscaping and the care free movements of the fishes, one tends to have a more relaxing and calm mind. Thus, it is a mode of anti depression and stress.

Have you ever thought of improving your child to be a more responsible citizen in the future? If you are eager to see that happen, get a pet to be part of your family. Children absorb life values quickly at a tender age. They can learn the importance of responsibility by tendering to the needs of pets. It also fosters a closer relationship between the child and the parents while caring for the pet together. It also develops a sense of discipline as the child will have the duties to be in charge of the pet daily. Taking a pet to the veterinarian for sickness or vaccination will get them exposed to the world of medical issues. They will learn to see the life situations of being sick, old age or even death. This will prepare them to face the real world out there with a stronger stand emotionally.

Pets do provide emotional benefits as they shower us with unconditional love and attention. They help to reduce our loneliness and anxiety. They provide us relaxation and at times giving our lives some touches of humour. They do not care if we are unattractive, old, incompetent or mentally ill. People look to them for solace, especially in the case of the loss of loved ones. Pets acts as a stress buffer in these life situations. The best thing is that they never complain.

Having a dog at home makes us feel more secure. We feel safer to have them around the house. They warn us of the approach of strangers and protect our homes from intruders. Even if they are small sized toy dogs, their bark is enough to scare the wits out of any burglar. Dogs are wonderful cheerleaders. They boost up our spirits and eliminate our depression. Dog owners are never at a loss for laughter with the energetic pets’ daily dose of fun. Laughter has been shown to be therapeutic. It can fight off illness and even promotes healing.

So if you intend to live a healthier lifestyle or having a more united family, why don’t you adopt a pet or even purchase one today? Mr. Spot, Ms Polly, Mr. Whiskers, Ms Mousey, Mr. Gold Fish or even Mr. Conan Cat will surely be happy to see you… Haha!

HOW YOU COMMENT WILL SHOW WHO YOU ARE

There is actually no right or wrong answers to my previous post on Picture to Ponder: Dog vs Beggar. Different people think differently and react differently to a situation or a problem. The post was to test on the maturity, thinking power, level of understanding and personality of a person.

Through the simple pictorial post and through many other articles that I have posted earlier, I have found out that there are many types of people in the blogosphere. Basically, they can be broken down into different categories.

Extraverts: They tend to be naturally active people and full with expressions. They are very sociable and are interested in many things outside of themselves.

Introverts: These are the opposite of extraverts, which makes them more reserved and vary about the world outside them. They have in depth knowledge and focused well in everything they perform. They are a group of low profile people.

COMMANDOS: I talk, you listen. You retaliate, I kill you. These are the group of people who has influences over their followers due to their loud voices and authority to terminate whoever that goes against them. Most people would not step on their tails in order to survive for a longer period of time in the blogosphere.

FOLLOWERS: These people are not decision makers. They tend to follow what others say and do without having their own stand or mind in evaluating any situations or problems. Their actions will prolong their survival in the blogosphere.

Judgers: They are a bunch of structured and organized group of people. Judgers are very productive in decision making and settle things or situation within the quickest possible time.

Perceivers: They are good learners in gaining as much experiences and knowledge as they could. Perceivers are a group of flexible and adaptive people. They always keep their options open to learn up more things. In short, they are always curious about just anything within or outside the blogosphere.

LOVERS: They practically love everything that they see through their eyes. Lovers are people who are filled with love, passion and compassion. They treat everything that either has senses or move about as living things. They are environmentalists who love to see things as they should be.

KILLERS: They elicit chills and horror in the lives of others. They take cruelty and brutality as part and parcel of their lives. They are very temperamental and have unpredictable mood swings.

Thinkers: They see, they think, they write. Thinkers are analytical people who make decisions based on sensibility and logical points. They will comment based on logical reasoning.

Feelers: This sensitive and empathetic group of people believes in choices and personal values. They are the “make peace, no war” people who are constantly in search of harmony amongst bloggers. They tend to sit on the fence in any disputes.

Conscientious: They set targets in their life and aim to be the best in their own field. They are a bunch of self discipline, hardworking people who will eventually become professional bloggers.

Neurotics: This group of people tends to have emotional instability. Neurotics are always not satisfied about their lives or people surrounding them. Anger, anxiety and depression are their daily dose of expressions.

Sensors: They are practical and literal people. They apply their past experiences and common sense to face the realities of the world surrounding them in their comments.

ARTISEs: They belong to an imaginative and creative group of people. They will foster any relationships in order to make names for themselves.

ASSHOLES: They are people who like to apply the concept of “what they see is what they get and how it is supposed to be”. They like to judge a book by its cover without studying in depth the actual contents. These are the people who like to assume things and situations in their lives.

KIASIS: They are people who have problems in their lives but tend to pretend as if nothing has ever happened. They try to avoid the actual situation or problem and come out with weird excuses rather than facing the situation or problem directly.

KIASUS: They are wanderers with an intention. They like to spy on others’ successful achievements to ensure that they do not lose out to them. They usually do not leave any comments or set hyperlink to the visited blogs.

COPYCATS: This group has the habit of copying other people’s original articles and post as their own. They are most hated by all bloggers.

These are the few categories of people I have encountered since started blogging not long ago. Do you have any other examples which you would like to share? Please do leave a comment here.

Disclaimer: The article was written solely based on the observation of the author. No part or parts of it is targeted at any individual or groups in the blogosphere.