{Last post of '07}


Well, this is it. For those in Singapore, we're not breathing in the last few minutes of 2007. The new year is just ten-plus hours away, so during this time, we should probably begin making some end-of-year preparations. Something that most people do at the end of the year is to make new year's resolutions.

My new year's resolutions are to learn the entire Partita 3 in E Major (Bach), exercise regularly and read a Psalm a day. I'll try my best to accomplish all these three resolutions. =D.

One thing I think that we should do at end-of-years is to let go of grudges that you have bore for the past year. It's the beginning of a new year, so we should also do off with the old and welcome the new. Likewise, we should also let go of our hates and grudges and try to forgive and forget. Forgiving and letting go of the hurt and pain in your heart is better than just storing it all inside, right? Just press the "reset" button in your head and walk into a new year!!

At this point, I want to apologise to all the people I might have hurt or insulted in 2007. I hope that you'll forgive me, and that we can all walk into 2008 together. I also pray that by God's grace I may forget this certain girl and walk into '08 with a heavy burden thrown out into the trash can. (That took a load off my mind.)

Yep, I also hope that in '08, I will become a better testimony of God's might and continue to be a blessing to my friends, family and those that I hold dear to myself.


Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?


For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.



Bye, '07!!

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Benson blogged at 12/31/2007 10:32:00 AM.
0 comment(s).

{Another day at church}


I brought Bran (my brother) to church for the second time today! He seems to pretty much have settled down into the FCBC environment. We decorated photo frames for new year countdown presents and had lunch together today. And it's weird how unfortunate incidents can actually become fortunate incidents because Shaun and Tai San both happen to think that my ripped jeans look cool (and it so happened that they got ripped because I wore them and got caught in a storm and kept stepping over them). I actually found today's sermon to be quite boring, heh.

On the way home, Gabriel, Tai San, Bran and myself were all discussing the same issue that we all have in two days' time; we are all not ready to go back to school. It seems so weird that we all wanted so badly to go back to school during the first few weeks of the holidays (damn, I actually missed my class so badly it hurt), but now that we're actually going back to school, nobody wants to. We're all too used to staying home, getting up at 11AM, not doing homework and pigging out on ice cream and chocolate till midnight (oops). The silver lining on this cloud is that I'm wearing long pants to school next year!! Not much of a big deal, but long pants give me a sense of authority. I think it's a shorts thing. LOL.

Actually, I'm worried that I'll wear shorts instead of long pants to school next year. LOL, it'd be so embarrassing if that really happened. I think the back-to-school anxiety is really getting to me.

Yep, I'm feeling angry again. I don't like people to make patronising comments about stuff and not really do anything about said stuff at all. I'm not trying to attack you, I just want to straighten things out with you. Hope you understand. =P.

BTW BTW BTW!!

I added another work to my Display section. It's the theme I made for Claudia.
Clicky clicky.

Comment, thanks.

That'll be all for today.

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Benson blogged at 12/30/2007 09:55:00 PM.
0 comment(s).

{The Golden Compass}





Joshua told me to boycott the film, but being the natural-born debater that I am, I believe that everything should have a fair chance to present its case, so I decided to watch it anyway (excuses? LOL).

Spoiler warning

Originally titled "Northern Lights", The Golden Compass is a film that depicts the adventures of Lyra Belacqua, a girl living in a parallel dimension where part of every human's soul lives outside their bodies as an entity termed a Daemon. By the way, it's not a demon, it just happens to have a terminology sounding like it's one. So the daemon and the human are one entity in two separate bodies. The storyline goes as such; there is a plot to kidnap children so that the Magisterium (a fictional governing body) can carry out experiments on the children to separate their daemons from their human partners. Lyra, being the hero, thus has to save the children, befriending a few allies along the way.

Apparently, Joshua told me to boycott the film because it had anti-Christian elements in it. I think the anti-Christian elements come from the film's depiction of the Magisterium, which Marisa Coulter was quoted as saying, to the best of my memory, "they help people do what's best for them". The Magisterium's a fictional interpretation of the Catholic Church, and is interpreted to be a corrupted government trying to gain control of the world through unscrupulous means. (Note: This is my conclusion of the criticism of the movie based on my own observations and this Wikipedia site. I'm not attacking the Catholic Church.)

Despite the movie's anti-religious themes, I still think the movie is worth watching. The storyline is not fantastically strong, but I think the special effects more than make up for its shortcomings. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

By the way, there's a test at www.goldencompassmovie.com to let you determine the form of your daemon. I took it and my daemon's a female tiger named Rhianna. LOL. How stunningly accurate.



***


I had a good talk with Cat Bro last night. I was quite pissed off with him this week, but we kinda patched up last night. Haha. I was feeling very crappy last night, and so be doubled as both my friend and my psychologist. It feels good to have friends.

And, and, and!! I've borrowed 4 comics for the weekend; one Astonishing X-Men (Oh, Emma Frost *drools*), and three Cathys. I never get tired of these. Cathy Guisewite is such a talented cartoonist. Whenever I read her strips, I always feel cheered up and I kinda get hooked to them. Whenever I begin reading the Cathy books, I'll keep thinking, "After one more strip, I'll stop", but I never do. Just like how the horribly greedy Cathy (in the comics) never ceases to feast on cookies and donuts and croissants.

I think I'm getting fat.

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Benson blogged at 12/29/2007 10:31:00 AM.
0 comment(s).

{Le Petit Prince}


The Little Prince is an enchanting children's story by French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In the story, a little boy from an extraterrestrial planet comes to Earth, where he meets the author, who is stranded in the Sahara Desert. Throughout the book, the themes of childlike innocence and other simple truths are explored. I just finished studying this book for my holiday assignment.

One of my favourite sentences from the story actually sums up the entire book within itself. "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye). This sentence has a profound meaning behind it. I feel that throughout the book, one constant point made by the author is that when children grow up to become adults, they lose the simple innocence that they had as a child. When they grow up, they are forced out of their childlike fantasies into the adult's "conventional" form of thinking. Take, for example, this extract from the book's first chapter:


Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.

In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."

I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked something like this:



I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them. But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of a boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:



The grown-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.



I feel that, in the story, the author uses the Prince to illustrate the sentence. When the Prince encounters the author in the desert, he is able to perceive the drawing and sees it as the author originally intended to be. I feel that the Prince is not just a character in the story, but a metaphor for the open-mindness that only children have.

From another point of view, the book can be seen as a critical view on the day's society. With adults being concerned with money-making and the like, not a lot of people take the time to appreciate the simple pleasures of life. Most people are so caught up with the materialistic side of life that very few people actually bother to look beyond the surface of things. However, I feel that in the book, the author actually uses the Prince to observe the adult form of thinking through the eyes of a child, using the Prince as a mouthpiece for his own thoughts on the world.

I personally find the second method of study more meaningful. After thinking about it, I feel that actually, everybody is really caught up in the rat race and nobody really bothers to look at the essence of things. I think this book has proved enlightening, and is definitely worth reading. The book has provided us with a cliched, yet true nugget of wisdom; look with the heart, not the eye.

I think this book deserves 5 stars out of a maximum of 5. Simple in its language, but charmingly meaningful, one definitely has to look beyond its children's book cover; after all, On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

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Benson blogged at 12/28/2007 01:28:00 PM.
0 comment(s).

{Well, I've moved (yet again).}


Well, this time, I've finally solved the Freewebs problem; I've moved. I've also moved all my content. And this time, it's staying here. Out with the old (and ugly), and in with the new (and beautiful) Blogger.com. Good old Blogger.com.

The thing is, this is a completely new blog, which means my old posts are gone. However, you can still view them by clicking on "Archives" under the Navigation menu.

Anyway, Merry (belated) Christmas everyone!!

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Benson blogged at 12/26/2007 06:19:00 PM.
0 comment(s).

{Display}


This page contains a display of some of my works that I have produced in my spare time. The content featured on this page is not for free use; you cannot use them at all, and their purpose is to be viewed and nothing else. Thank you.





Theme One- Under My Umbrella ft. Rihanna


Brushes from Juvenilecasualty.net.





Theme Two- Raven


Brushes from Juvenilecasualty.net, Xoxmariah.com and Freewebs.com/strungparadox. Stock image from Heartintow.net. Raven is property of DC Comics, and is not affilated or related to Benson in any way. No copyright infringement is intended.





Theme Three- Jean Grey a.k.a. Phoenix


Brushes from Juvenilecasualty.net, Freewebs.com/strungparadox and Xoxmariah.com. Stock images by Freewebs.com/strungparadox and Heartintow.net. Phoenix is property of Marvel Comics, and is not affilated or related to Benson in any way. No copyright infringement is intended.





Theme Four- Umbrella


Brushes from Juvenilecasualty.net, Freewebs.com/strungparadox. Stock images by Heartintow.net and Freewebs.com/strungparadox. Rihanna pictures from Rihannanow.com. Benson and Rihanna are not related in any way.





Theme Five- Archie and Friends at the Beach


Brushes by Juvenilecasualty.net. Stocks from Flickr.com. Archie characters by Archie Comics. No copyright infringement is intended. Benson and Archie Comics are not related.





Theme Six- Untitled


Brushes by Juvenilecasualty.net. Images of models from http://community.livejournal.com/foto_decadent.



Theme Seven- The Many Faces of Emma Frost


Resources by misprintedtype.com, lemonend.net, streetcarcircus.net.


Emma Frost is owned by Marvel Comics. No copyright infringement is intended.



Theme Eight- Disturbia, Disturbia!


Resources by misprintedtype.com, lemonend.net, seishido.biz.

Theme Nine- "Isn't it delicious?"


Stocks and brushes from various websites.
Theme Ten- "My First Attempt At Designing A Collage"



Click for further details.


Benson blogged at 12/26/2007 06:15:00 PM.
1 comment(s).

{Stock Images}


You can use these for making layouts or stuff. You cannot redistribute them, even in another form (e.g. as brushes, etc) unless with my express permission. Credit is required.












Benson blogged at 12/26/2007 06:13:00 PM.
0 comment(s).

{Image Packs}


These are image packs of the Adobe Photoshop CS2 brushes that I have made. If your version of Photoshop does not support the brushes, or if you're using a different program altogether, you can use these image packs to remake my brushes on your system. However, credit to me is required, so kindly link back as credit, thank you. =).





[Image Pack]




[Image Pack 1][Image Pack 2]




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[Image Pack 1][Image Pack 2]




[Image Pack 1][Image Pack 2]




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Benson blogged at 12/26/2007 06:11:00 PM.
0 comment(s).

{Visitor Content}


I like to make stuff for visitors. If you use them, please do link back as credit, thank you.


TERMS OF USE


Note that everything on this site is © 2007-2008 Pang Wen Kang Benson, unless otherwise stated. Go to WhatIsCopyright.Org to find out more.

Note that all my works are not to be redistributed or used for commercial use in any form without my express permission.

Please also note that if you use any of my resources, you are required to link back to me as the original creator of the work in question.




With that, enjoy.


Image Packs

Stock Images


Benson blogged at 12/26/2007 06:05:00 PM.
0 comment(s).

{Webmaster}


Name.


Pang Wen Kang Benson. In the most common Singaporean way of listing given names of Chinese people, the Surname is listed first, then the given Chinese name, then the English name (if applicable). Therefore, my surname is Pang, my given Chinese name is Wen Kang ("wen[2]" "kang[1]") and my English name is Benson. Cool eh?

Basic Stuff.


Age 16.

Birthday 2nd August 1993.

Residence Singapore.

Gender Male.

Religion Christian (Baptist).

Race Chinese.

Dialect Hakka / Khek (interexchangeable terms that mean the same thing).

Other Interesting Stuff About Me.


I'm left-handed. A violinist. A debator. I have no birthmarks. I once answered on a quiz that if I had to choose between a complicated plane of thought of a given topic and a simple plane of thought I would choose the complicated plane of thought. I am in love with the works of Edgar Allen Poe. I have difficulty slowing down rather than speeding up.


Likes.


God. Going to church. Music. Hillsong. Casting Crowns. My violin. bond. Vanessa-Mae. My Chemical Romance. "The Devil's Trill Sonata" by Giuseppe Tartini. Web design. Surfing the Net. Writing. Thinking. Complicated stuff. Harry Potter. Teen Titans. X-Men. Beast Boy. Anything spicy / doused with Tabasco sauce. Tom yam noodles. A Series of Unfortunate Events. My computer. Going to the movies. Maltesers. Classical pop music.


Personality.


I find myself to be more mature than other people my age. I often find myself thinking about philosophical things in life, like "where does right and wrong come from?" and "what is human nature like"? Because of my pensive nature, I'm often branded as being blatantly politically incorrect, something I'm admittedly proud of. According to the DISC Test, I'm a C, which gives me all the attributes of a bank teller. Well, there's more about me (I'm just too lazy to write down all of it. Hey, that's another one!)


Benson blogged at 12/25/2007 08:11:00 PM.
0 comment(s).







In Your freedom I will live;
All I am is Yours!