This is What Happens When You Have Live TV

Sarah Murdoch needs other better excuse for her mistake at hosting The Australia's Next Top Model rather than picking live television show as a scapegoat.

Watching it again on youtube, I think Sarah started to look tense at 2.30, then at 2:31 she looked like having her body there but her mind was elsewhere. Probably the operator had told her by that time about the mistake she just had made, but she lost idea of what to say. Poor her.

Some people think that it was purposely for publicity reason, that Sarah Murdoch was just acting. It's silly, it's very obvious she looked horror-stricken.
I can't pick the best scenario of what actually caused the blunder. Was it the operator who didn't speak clearly? Did Sarah actually has problem with her ears? :-D
Or ...could it be Sarah Murdoch actually preferred Kelsey Martinovich to Amanda Ware to win the title, and that caused her subconscious to take over her mind?

As for Kelsey Martinovich, she's elegantly in control of the situation, and came forth to comfort Murdoch. Both finalists are beautiful, and I see Kelsey as a winner as well as Amanda.
It's also good that as a way of apology, the organiser compensated Kelsey with $20,000 (£12,000) and a trip to New York.

Plant Your Love and Let It Grow

Standing at the crossroads, trying to read the signs
To tell me which way I should go to find the answer,
And all the time I know,
Plant your love and let it grow.

Let it grow, let it grow,
Let it blossom, let it flow.
In the sun, the rain, the snow,
Love is lovely, let it grow.

Looking for a reason to check out of my mind,
Trying hard to get a friend that I can count on,
But there's nothing left to show,
Plant your love and let it grow.

Chorus

Time is getting shorter and there's much for you to do.
Only ask and you will get what you are needing,
The rest is up to you.
Plant your love and let it grow.

Chorus

If you're reading this, then you've been wrong! Cause you should be singing :-D Peaceful song!

Kite Runner: There's a way to be good again

I am not sure how I ended up clicking the link of this movie when I was checking a site that gives access to watch free movie online. I didn't regret it, Kite Runner has a very touching story, I even wept. I attach the clip from the movie at the end of this post so that everyone who don't have access to the movie can have a glimpse of it, and also can listen to its lovely song.

Normally when I watch a horror movie and feel very scared, I will insert the images of film director, camera and so on into my head to neutralise my feeling or even kill the spine-chilling effect. This didn't work for Kite Runner, this movie still moved me to tears.

Kite runner is a story about two boys who befriend each other, but ruined by the cowardices of one of the boys. Hassan is a son of the servant in the house of Amir's father. They have their good times together when Afghanistan is still a decent place to live. Hassan is always like a bodyguard to Amir, he protects Amir from Assef who is also a son of another rich man. One day Hassan almost fires his slingshot at Assef's eye when Assef and his two friends threaten them on a quiet alley. The incident makes Assef even hates Hassan more.

Baba, Amir's father, loves Hasan and cares about him enough. On the day of Hasan's birthday, Baba lets Hassan to choose his own presents, and one of them is a kite.
Hassan is a prominent kite fighter, and he also is a kite runner. He knows where the kite will falls even without having to follow the kite.

The tragedy begins on the kite tournament day in Kabul. Hassan prepares everything to make sure Amir can win the tournament, and he uses the kite which is his birthday present. He directs Amir to beat all the other kites. The last cut kite is the great trophy of the tournament and everyone are trying to get it. Hassan runs to get the kite for Amir. "For you a thousand time over" says Hassan to Amir before he runs for the kite.

Unfortunately, Hassan falls into bad luck. He gets the trophy kite, but he runs across Assef and his abettors on a desolate back street. In the meantime, Amir who is worried because Hassan is still not back manages to find Hassan. He witnesses how Hassan refuses to hand out the kite to Assef because Hassan wants Amir to have it. Amir is too cowardly to act -I was very sad and mad seeing this scene, really a disturbing scene. Hassan, a ten years old or eleven years at most boy, must experiencing a painful disgrace in humanity. It's a real heartbreaking scene, the worst tragic to the boy's life.

Amir who feels very guilty of what happens to Hassan acts as if he doesn't know anything about it. Instead of comforting Hassan, Amir makes Hassan and Ali -Hassan's father to leave his house, and that's the last time Amir sees Hassan.

After Taliban takes over Afghanistan, Amir -who is now living in America- is forced to go back there by Rahim Khan -the best friend of Baba. Rahim Khan tells Amir "There is a way to be good again" as if he knew what happened to Hassan that day. The way is by saving Sohrab who is a son of Hassan. Rahim Khan shows Amir the unsent letter from Hassan, this is very touching. Hassan's heart is still pure, he still loves Amir and he hopes to see Amir again. At first Amir is still reluctant, until Rahim reveals him Baba's dark secret concerning Hassan's background.

The mission takes Amir to once again encounter his old enemy Assaf. It turns out Assaf takes Sohrab with him to be his dancing boy. He does to Sohrab what he did to Hassan :(((

For the first time Amir can get his dignity back and finds solace in his heart -although I think it's still too late- and just like the old times when Hassan stood for him, this time Sohrab also protects Amir by shooting an iron ball with his slingshot to Assaf eyes. They both manage to escape from Assaf and Afghanistan. Amir brings Sohrab to the USA with him. Amir and his wife then become Sohrab's parents. The film is closed by the scene of Amir runs the kite for Sohrab and recites Hassan words "for you a thousand times over".

I read the synopsis of the book, though the film is very good, I think the book is even better. I also sense the controversy before I read that this film raises protests especially in Afghanistan. It is about the scene of what Assaf did to Hassan on that deserted alley. A thorough reading about the film and its controversy is available in The Kite Runner wiki.

Idan Raichel..Boi..O Boi...

This is the third times in a day I mention about Idan Raichel on the net.
Idan Raichel is an Israeli musician whose songs currently hold spellbound on me.
I love mostly Bo'i, it's really mesmerising me to the bone.
The tunes, the language, especially that Amharic language...magical...and Idan Raichel...I'm unashamedly saying this, sei molto bellissimo.
I would love to see his concert but I think Idan Raichel will never be able to perform in my country. Sigh.

Here, the lyrics and video of Boi from Idan Raichel and friends.

Come, give me your hand and we will go
Don't ask me where
Don't ask me about happiness

Maybe it will come too
When it will come
it'll fall upon us like rain.

Come, let us embrace and go
Don't ask me when
Don't ask me about home
Don't ask me for time
Time does not wait, nor stop or remain.*

Here's the translation of Amrahic language used in the song, the part that's uttered by a female member of Idan's group.

Do you remember back then, when you used to always bring me flowers
You'd entertain me, I'd entertain you,
You'd talk to me, I'd talk to you
We'd hold each other
We'd spend every day with joy

When evening came, we'd ask when a new day would begin
When we'd separate, I would feel sad
When we'd meet, I would feel immense joy
And now all that has passed and here we are now.**

Official Idan Raichel Project
*Bo'i
**Lucio Garcia

If You Were A Song

Thank God for my mobile phone, thank God for the internet, thank God for everyone who like to blog, otherwise I wouldn't know this very sweet song that I listened through CnJ radio when I was in the car yesterday. I typed some words from the song on my mobile phone while listening to that an unfamiliar but a very nice song, and voila, Google does its magic again.

That breezy romantic jazzy like song is "If you were a song" and it is sung by an Australian singer Mark Sholtez, not by a female singer like what I thought before.
Mark Sholtez seems don't make available or don't distribute the music video of this song on the internet. Youtube only has a video clip based on If you were a song music, made for VH1 India video promo that channel.



For now I can only listen If you were a song from the MP3 player on the Myspace site of Mark Sholtez, and try to sing a long a bit with its lyrics:

If you were a dream
I wonder how many hours I’d sleep
How hard it would be to wake up and how easy to fall

If you were a dream
There would be nothing else I’d want to see
No reason ever have opened my eyes at all

♥ If you were a song
Every word would be etched in my memory
Every note of the delicate melody would be there in my head
If you were a song
I would practice you night and day
Until perfectly I could play you by heart

If you were the sun
I couldn’t bear have a cloud between us
I’d search for a place where they say that the rain never falls

If you were the moon
Every night my eyes would be fixed on you
Never closed for one moment from dusk 'til the first light of dawn

...back to ♥ twice
For everyone who is currently fall into the great thing called Love ;-)