On 29th September, Jason from Nissi 1 Aspiration came to my house to learn guitar and it was really great spending time with him. We had a good time of fellowship and even played basketball together.
Then, after that fateful game, we proceeded down the treacherous slope that I have never tamed with my skateboard. Being complacent and wanting to show off, I kicked off from the ground and travelled really fast on the wheels. Instead of jumping off when it got fast, I decided to go over the rough patch at the bottom of the slope.
The next thing I knew, the wheels rattled hard on the small rocks and I lost my balance. I was flung forward with my right side at the front. I tried to run to overcome the inertia/G-force (forgive my layman understanding of physics) and to avoid falling. But the force was too great and I had already lost my balance; so I fell hard on the tar road.
"Thump" and I rolled over the road several times. I thought I would die or get seriously hurt as I scraped my arms and legs against the rough surface of the road. My handphone was in my pocket and suffered the impact as it grinded against the floor.
But I was really glad to find myself suffering only from minor injuries-a wound near each elbow, one beside the left knee cap, a slight scratch on my left palm, two rather deep holes on my right palm and a shallow hole in the right side of my right wrist. My handphone did not even get a scratch and had no side effects. I really thank God for His journey mercy because I think He really protected me and what was important to me.
I was really worried I would not be able to play the guitar for SP's Talentime on 16th November but I realised the wounded areas did not stump my ability to play the guitar, though I had used my palms to cushion my fall.
Anyway, it took less than one week to close up the wounds and heal them significantly so I'm really thankful. I had always been careful, suffering no other injuries besides this. However, it's always good to be extra cautious for my future cheap-thrill rides.
On 1st October, Xin Long and I made our way to a rather famous Roman Catholic church in Singapore to have an insider's insight on the differences and why we protested. Their worship service(called Mass) was very religious and traditional. They reminded me of my mom's Lutheran church service and that was traditional enough for me.
The priest would sing to us and we have to sing in reply. The priest also sang out Scripture, verbatim(word for word), and I was pretty amazed by their Gregorian-Chant-like singing techniques. The only music they had came out of the church organ or a cd. The priests were dressed in their robes and they had altar boys who carried heavy lampstands, much like the one in Chronicles of Narnia, except that it is portable.
For your information, the priests do not preach sermons. It's called a homily and he elaborates a bit on the three readings that is scheduled for that day for Roman Catholic churches in the world. They have a rigid system of the readings, which are probably decided by the Vatican. The priest is not supposed to use other Scripture.
Xin Long and me were quite shocked by the sight of a life-size doll representing Mary, placed in a glass display case. But what was shocking for me was that they had no confession boxes and believe that Jesus has resurrected.
In Bible Study, I believe Pastor Daniel said that they do not believe in Jesus as the Way or that He even resurrected. But I might have heard or remembered wrongly, and I had no opportunity to ask him.
All in all, it was a good field trip. But I do not think I will be making a trip down any Roman Catholic church for a long, long time.
These six girls had asked me to be their project's anti-smoking icon Shaun, an acronym for Smoking Harms All Using Nicotine. I took up the challenge, being unsure if I would be as funny(or the right type of funny) as they had expected me to be.
They expected me to appear and say "Everybody, get up and dance. It's time to party", dance like Ellen DeGeneres and hand out the group's creatives to 4 external judges from the industry(whom I was afraid of offending).
Then they gave me the autonomy to make jokes and script my own speech while encompassing necessary details. Below is the script I memorised and repeated. Tell me if it's not funny.
YO MANN! I am Shaun and I have a pen, so you can call me Sean Penn. I come from the land of Afroca and everybody there have afros, and no bad hair days. Today I want to tell you that you don't have to smoke to be smoking hot like me. If you read my blog at helloshaun.com, you will find out how I quit smoking and started taking Afro-building seriously. Remember, I found my freedom because I chose to be smoke free. Bye bye now!
FUN BUT TOTALLY UNRELATED STUFF
JAMES'S NEW JOKES AND RIDDLES
1. How did the English teacher from Japan comfort his colleague who was fined for driving?
Ans: You're were fined a little while ago but you will be fine in a little while.
2. What is agar agar transformed to in the hands of a king?
Ans: Royal Jelly
3. Which phone manufacturer has no daughter companies?
Ans: No-kia
4. What are writers with bad punctuation called?
Ans: Song writers
5. What is bread that has gone bad called?
Ans: A SandWitch
6. What sandwiches do musicians like to eat?
Ans: Tuner(tuna) sandwiches
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