Remembering Unity

Brick stones marks the route of the wall

.

9 November 1989. This very day twenty years ago marked the beginning of an end. For twenty eight years the people of Berlin have lived divided as Eastern and Western Berliners. In the beginning this wall represented the ideological difference of the East and West. But as the years went by (and especially near its fall), the wall became a symbol of resistance of the people, and their desire to reunite with loved ones beyond the border.

The famous Checkpoint Charlie, now a tourist attraction

Although the wall is only confined to Berlin, it represented the reality at a larger scale. The world that was divided in two, as though there was an invisible wall that separates countries, and death strips that prevented people of either sides from coming over. The fall of the Berlin wall signified the end of that invisible barrier as well, for the Eastern Bloc would cease to exist not long after.

A temporary exhibit, memorial to those who perished trying to cross the wall

If there is one thing I admire most about the Germans is that they have no fear to face their past. The last century of German history is undoubtedly filled with grim events. Two World Wars, the Holocaust, and the Berlin wall are perhaps more than enough of ‘bad history’ for any country. But unlike some who try to cover up or white-wash their past, the Germans go all out to remind themselves of the past, both glorious and grisly.

Sections of the old Berlin wall still standing today

A walk through Berlin will reveal this. The Reichstag (parliament building), silent witness to World War 2, still has its walls riddled with bullet (despite sporting a new glass dome). The pedestrian crossings in East Berlin are maintained to their old Soviet-era style. There is a Holocaust memorial in downtown Berlin. And of the Berlin wall; the Berliners kept several sections standing, and drew a path along the old wall location with brick stones. Sniper guard towers still stand tall along what used to be parts of the ‘death strip’. All these reminders, I hope, will continue to open our eyes to the horrors of conflict, and the power of unity.

.

A sentry tower, still standing tall

Darn, my phone is dead (long live the phone!)

My dead HTC Dual, RIP my good man

As fate dictated, yesterday I was trying to send message from my HTC dual and realized that the touch screen has stopped working. "Okay, we have a problem" I thought. For the past few weeks, I have several problems with my 2 year old phone. It first began when people couldn't hear me clearly during calls. Then it got slightly worse, I also can't hear the other side. However, if I put the call on speaker phone there is no problem. Soon after, the touch screen loses sensitivity intermittently. The final straw as you can guess, came yesterday. With no touch screen I couldn't send out sms (no way to click the 'send' button), and no had way to activate speaker phone. Meaning I'm deaf during calls.

.

So I opened my phone storage box at home, and took out my spare phone. It's so old you probably wouldn't see anyone else using it at the moment. The Panasonic GD-67, released in 2003, is unquestionably durable, serving full fledged for over 2 years, and being a backup phone for the past 4 years with no servicing. Myself, my 2 cousins, and my maid has used this phone at some point in time. It doesn't have major problem, even the battery still last pretty well.

The GD67, always ready for duty

The secret I believe lies in its' basic design, candybar. My last 2 phones were of clamshell and sliding design respectively. The constant movement of the parts seem to contribute to wear and tear, therefore these phones ended their service before their 2 year allotment is up (i time myself to change phone after 2 years, or when they died on me, whichever is earlier). So, you can bet that my next phone will be a candybar.

.

I'll send my HTC for servicing soon, and it will then sit next to good old Panasonic, ready for duty anytime the need arise.

Blues came from Asia?

I recently read a comment posted in Youtube, by someone from Africa, that after viewing a traditional song from Rote, he/she is left wondering if Blues music "really takes its root in Africa". Indeed, several others left similar sounding comments on that particular video, claiming that the song sounds "kinda bluesy". Now, I am quite fond of Blues (which is largely played by African Americans) for its upbeat tempo, and the unique and somewhat raspy voice that many of the Blues singers have.

In the video, the singer is accompanied by his Sasando, a traditional string musical instrument from the island of Rote. It is maybe the long lost cousin of the guitar. You can see a drawing of it below, placed next to the ikat cloth on an old Indonesian banknote. The thing that looks like cloth wrapping on the instrument is actually a resonator made of palm leaves, quite ingenious don't you think? From some of the Youtube videos, modern Sasandos come with a plug for amplifiers.

To play the instrument, one just need to pluck the strings. Sounds easy? it actually looks easy too, because each fingers only need to pluck one string (well, that's what I deduce after seeing the videos). But I'm not too sure if this will be easier than learning to play guitar.

Coming back to the topic of Blues, I don't actually see how the song in the video sounds 'Bluesy'. I don't know how to describe the sound of the instrument, but the tune played sounds Asian, at least in my opinion. The singer on the other hand, sounds like a Native American. Seen a few more of Sasando videos, (one observation, the amazing grace seems to be one popular song to be played on a Sasando) and they still don't sound like Blues to my ears. But don't take my words for it, you might want to drop by youtube and see for yourself. Let me know how you find it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB8Wy7tlsxo