Love me

I honor everything that I am doing.  I am a community member.  I am surrounded by respect.  I am sourrounded by love.  I am surrounded by friends who listen to me.  I am resourceful.  I am in abundant.  I am perfect in the divine eyes.  I am a brilliant writer.

Love You

When it comes to love, this song describes how I feel.  Happy Valentine.  Thanks Air Supply.

Love  is everywhere I know it is…

it’s all up to you…

here I am the one that you love…

love you in so many ways…

Go figure, how much more hints can I give you?

Friends

Need new glasses. Cooler one broke. Had to wear this one.

We smile because we love to smile.  Little Sourivong is cute, isn’t he?

Punch Line

I tell stale jokes.  I suppose I don’t know many good ones.  I don’t think I can drum up a new joke to save my life.   In my early ESL days I sat in front of  a TV and watched stand up comedy.  People laughed at what the comedians were saying, in my early ESL days, I didn’t get it.  Later, as my English improved, I started to laugh along.  Sad but true, they were crazy jokes ranging from sex, race,  hate, and so on.  Those were the ones that were obviously funny.  They have strong punch lines.

In another context, I think punch line in a joke is like the message in the films.  I posted something about zombies and zombie movies recently.  George Remero had a new one, “Journal of Zombies.”  The punch line or the message here is, you are what you are.  It was when one of the characters said, “In the end, we are what we are.  Those that died will come back and try to kill the others.”  It was something like that.   I thought about that for a moment, it’s true.

All different religion in the world offer salvation.  All geniuses of the world offer hope.  The bottom line is, what happen when we die?  Most of us don’t care for dying.  We care about life and take all we can while we are alive.  Thank God, dear God, there are enough people to hold the balance between good and evil.   But what is good might be evil in disguise.  Everything repeat its self.   The prehistoric people already went through all this.  They die when it’s their time come.   We just die differently now.   We live and die in style.   We die from getting shot at, getting killed by animals, we kill each others, etch.  If not that, we die by sickness which is really relate to our own doing.   We want to stop death that is enevitably.  Time Makazine posts an interesting article about stem cell research.  What do I know about that?  I know it can cure some deasease and prolong life.   It slow death as it approach.  We are actually running  and we hiding from death  these days.  The punch line here is, our clock is ticking.

Hiding  from death, remind me of a joke mae tu (grandma) Eet from Syhom, Vientiane told us.  It was a good joke.   I laughed when the punch line came.  The joke was, a long time ago when people were allowed to know their death date.   People excepted death pretty well back then.  When there time come, they just went peacefully.  The yommatude (death embassors) had no problem.  They just came and retrieve the sould of the dead and go.    As time went on, people started to get bold and disrespectful of the rules set for them.  One of those rules was the death sentence.  So they decided to try and cheat death by hiding.   Mae tu told us that there was this man who didn’t want to die.   He tried to hide in the water because everywhere else the embassador would find him.  The water was a place people didn’t use before.  The embassador can not imagine that someone would hide in the water because there’s no air under the water.  So he didn’t look there.  Finally after a long search foe Mr. I don’t want to die yet, he gave up and decided to look at the the odd place, the  river.  The man that was hiding saw the embassador coming, he took another big gulp of air and went under.  He held his breath as long he could.  Here is the punch line, his butt was sticking up above the surface.  We all should laugh at this point.

Imagine hiding in the water to escape death but the man’s butt was floating above the surface.  So the embassador took the man.  The president of the underworld got really tire of people not cooperating with the embassadors.   Human kept trying to find a new way to live longer then they suppose to.  It caused a lot of confusion for the heaven people that incharge of accounting.  The writers of people’s fait were having the same problem too.  So God said, dawnit, from now on no one is allowed to know their death date!

Live your life to the fullest.  Be a good person.  I promise you will be judge very kindly when the time come.

Tai Oratai

I was asked if I can provide a Lao song to be play at a fundraising.   Money are raised from different community so they want to play songs from different community.  I think I will give them Tai Orati.  Tai (Rabbit) is popular in both the Lao and the Thai community.  The language used in her songs covers both the Lao and the Thai, the Lao-Thai, and the Thai-Lao.   The old saying always rang true, Thai and Lao are relatives.

Tai has been popular for a few years now.  I think about 10 years or so.  I am not sure.  In America, Tai is won a lot of hearts.   When Tai came to my community 2 years ago, I heard but didn’t paid it no mind.  My had a chance to listen to Tai Oratai came when I was working on my mom’s deck.  I worked alone so music was my companion.  I had Manit playing as I work.  After a while, I need something else.  Mom has Tai’s special album, Yu Nai Jai Smur (always in my heart).  I asked to borrow Tai to switch out for Manit.   When Unai Jai Smur came on, I stopped and listned.  When the part, Unai Jai Smur hu boh (do you know, will always be in my heart) came on, I was touches.  I listened on and continue to work.  After listened to Tai’s words in the songs, I realized, “No wonder pi Meow (Mr. Cat) was so crazy about her.”  Mr. Cat hangs out with my cousin.  She told me how he had picture taken with Tai and framed it, with the permission of his wife of course.

Tai talks to people through her golden voice.  It touches people’s heart.   Tai and many other like her are like the savors of the poor people of Isan and Lao regions.   The songs gave relief and comfort to the tiring souls.  A lot of songs in Yu Nai Jai Smur are life songs.  It talks about how difficult life is without love, money, family.  It talks about a difficult life in the big city, being away from home having to fight everyday to eat, send earning back to their hometown.   I see genius in those who composed Tai’s music especially Unai Jai Smur Album.  Weather it’s musical genius or power of marketing, I don’t care.  It’s the message that is loud and clear.  Salvation is in play.  Those guys are the grand masters.  Beside Buddism, the people have music that ease their pain.

I posted the first song of the album and the fifth song.   The first song is about how she greatly appreciated everyone for supporting her.  I mean everyone.  She expressed how fortunate she was to have come this far because of the love and support from everyone.  The second song I posted is actually the fifth songs in the album.   I posted it because it has a rythm of Lao lumvong.  People can dance in the lumvong style to this song.  The song is about the moon and love and whatever else that can be associated with the moon and the love between people.  She sings about how people can meet under the moonlight.  It doesn’t matter if you are a world away, as long as your hearts are together, it’s all the closure you need.

Tai has mon (magic) in her voice.  She is definitely a Heaven Sent.