Hekla Corporation

1.
A. Thanks for telling me about your company, but the truth is that I have never used or seen any pen being used which is under your brand, Hekla. I myself swear by Stabilos and Pilots and Faber-Castell.
B. Faber-Castell! Are you kidding? The dweebs are wot this brand is for! Real men, rich men use Hekla ballpoint and fountain pens.
A. Real men?
B. Are you a weakling?
A. No? Uh- I mean
B. You're not going to say yes! I know because you are really strong at heart.
A. Thanks...
B. You just look and behave like a dweeb, that's all. Do you want to change your image?
A. Alright, yes. How'd you put it?
B. Buy a Hekla Fountain today.
A. Then?
B. There's so many things you could do with a Hekla Fountain! Put it to paper and it will write. Put it in your pocket and people will think you have class. Spin it around with your fingers at office time and people will think you are totally cool! Murder someone with it and nobody will ever find out!
A. Wait, what?
B. Do you know that Hekla Corporation has made the Fortune 500 list for six years in a row?
A. No.
B. Do you even read Fortune?
A. No?
B. You should start reading soon! But don't worry, I can be a good big brother to you and pay for your first subscription. In any case, Hekla has consistently stayed in the two hundreds range for the years 2004 to 2009! And with a annual rvenue of thirty two thousand six hundred and sixteen MILLION dollars! That's a lot of money! Think you can beat that?
A. I can't follow what you have just said. I thought you were just after selling pens.
B. I told you all those so that you'll know that Hekla is a very successful and reliable company, with well-branded and high-quality products very much in demand in the public. I can tell you now that there's not only me working here.
A. Who else is?
B. Everyone from our little gang! Jorg, Harun and Casey!
A. So I won't feel alone here?
B. No one is alone in Hekla!

2.
A. It'll do much good if I could just try the pen out.
B. By all means.
A. How?
B. Just make a sign over this dotted line here.
A. This pen isn't good.
B. Isn't good? Are you sure?
A. It's new and the ink's run out.
B. Don't worry, you'll have a lot more pens. Here's another one.
A. Okay.
B. All done? That's a nice sign. I don't think you'll have much problem with using Hekla pens anymore, you've got tonnes of it now.
A. Sorry?
B. You're the proud owner of three batches of Hekla ballpoints, fresh from the factory! There'll never be too little ink when you have too many pens!

3.
A. I have to go.
B. What do you mean? Where are you going?
A. Go as in - toilet...
B. Oh, I thought you were leaving the deal behind.
A. Oh, oh no I wasn't.
B. You won't want to miss it. Wait, why are you bringing your bag along? Do you bring your bags to the toilet?
A. Of course not! Just... just being absent, ahaha.
B. Let me go with you.

4.
B. Let me show you a sample of this batch. As you can see here, there are five hundred pens in each batch, the batches being of different models. You can sell them at prices you can refer to at the counter downstairs. We hold exclusive distributorship rights on the manufacturer so you can be assured that no one gets to use it except through you; not even from stationery stores!
A. What about refills?
B. When your customers ask for refills, just come back and buy a batch of inner tube refills. Again, five hundred a batch.

5.
B. Wait, that's not all! There's more to this. Pens are not the only focus for Hekla Corporation. As you might be familiar with the term, our company is diversifying. Want to know more?
A. What's there?
B. Let me bring you around the booths... Here's the diamond shop, under the brand of Faye and Lim. The demand for diamonds have risen so much recently that we have decided to expand into this area. We import quality diamonds from countries like Namibia, South Africa, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Especially for the latter two, our investments in the diamond mining industry has contributed greatly to the ongoing struggle against their weak and corrupt governments. You would have thought we're just out for money. That's not true! We and Faye and Lim are also out to support justice in the world!
A. How many branches does Faye and Lim have in Singapore?
B. One is open at West Coast Plaza, the other is opening soon at Eu Tong Sen Street.
A. It's just budding.
B. But I can tell that it will be great! Here, let's go through the others, shall we?

6.
B. You know, those are so far not the best ways you can reel in money with... Do you know what is the best way?
A. Sell more?
B. Get your friends in. Let them work under you. Sell your pens for you.
A. But will they?
B. They'll be selling their own. And making fat wads on their own. But of course, you being their boss, you'll earn much more. How many people do you think you can convince?
A. I don't know... nine? Ten people?
B. You only need three.
A. That's a relief!
B. Only three people under you and you can break even under a month. Isn't that great?
A. It is.

7.
B. So you think you're good to start? Let's go. Grab your phone and call your friends now!
A. Now? I need more time to decide.
B. Whaddya mean you need more time to decide? You don't need time to decide! You agreed with me that this is a good deal! The time to make the decision is now!
A. I- I-
B. I understand. Sometimes, it's better to just do it and not worry about the negative trifles.
A. I was thinking that my family would object.
B. To you making big money? Why would they? Public opinion for us has always been negative, but that can be changed. Don't tell your parents first. We'll teach you how to tell them that you've joined, and in time they'll accept you just the way you are. Time for you to be independent, right or wrong?

8.
A. So now, what if I decided that I can't commit, and decides not to join? You'd have wasted your breath, wouldn't you?
B. There is no such thing as "you can't commit". The schedule here is absolutely flexible. You can come as you please in your spare time. Although of course you have to work hard for the first six months.
A. But the form I'll not sign, I'm sure of that. Please do let me off if I just buy a few of your Hekla Fountains.
B. But you've already signed it.
A. No!
B. Here's the form.
A. That's not my sign!
B. Well, you made it.
A. I was testing the pen! I thought it was scrap paper! I never saw anything else written on it!
B. It says here that you agree unconditionally to all the terms and conditions of Hekla Corporation as an INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR. This also means you must have read it as well, hm? Good to be home, isn't it?

9.
A. What have I done?
B. It shouldn't come as too much a surprise that you've sold your soul to the Devil.
A. So the Devil is behind all this?
B. Oh, yes, of course! I did say stationery isn't our main source for revenue. How else do we get our annual 32,616 million? The divil in you, his greed is our fortune!
A. If the gang is working here, where are they? So they've sold their souls too?
B. Jorg is a director but for some reason we haven't seen him in awhile... Harun was due to meet me today, but he postponed the meeting to next week. If he joins then he will be your downline and subordinate in Hell!
A. How about Casey?
B. He hasn't returned our calls at all, but with your help we'll have no problem roping him in. You're his best friend!
A. So this is all a giant scam you're making! This is immoral!
B. Hey, don't be so high and mighty yourself. You said it was a good deal. Face it, you're just as greedy as the others.
The world is dominated by a minority: ten percent controlling ninety percent of the world's wealth, the other ninety percent controlling just ten. Would that ten percent have achieved it without greed-- the drive to succeed? Which group would you rather belong to?
A. I hain't sold my soul to no supernatural entity!
B. Now, If you would just bow down and worship me...
A. No, you bow down and go fuck yourself.
B. Come on, hey, that's not very civil.
A. I'm leaving!
B. Don't you want to earn more money?
A. (leaves)
B. We're holding your mother captive!

10.
C. That, of all the lies, didn't work.
B. I'm sorry, m'lud.
C. The last one was totally lame.
B. He was leaving... I thought just maybe that would instill some fear and make him return.
C. You didn't get the money, either.
B. What? I-
C. You didn't make him do the transaction over the counter thing.
B. It was a careless mistake! I swear! I swear it was carelessness and not some lacking in greed-
C. Drive for success, DRIVE FOR SUCCESS! How many self-help sessions must you go through to know not to mention the g-word even when you mean it? Exercise some power over yourself next time!
B. (shuddering) What's my punishment, m'lud?
C. Three corrective sessions in the auditorium, no complaints. Hm?
B. I'll take it, m'lud, whatever makes me a better and more effective individual. But now, what of that rogue customer?
C. Rogue customer? That friend of yours? The girls at our financial insurance wing will take care of him. He can reject your friendship now, but can he stand up to their feminine wiles? If you'll excuse me, I'll be there to watch him when he tries to hack his way out of Jurong East...

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia [detail] / acrylic on canvas / 2 March 2010 (view whole painting)
The Wisdom of God cries aloud,
The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded,
before the oldest of his works.
From everlasting I was firmly set,
from the beginning, before earth came into being.
The deep was not, when I was born,
there were no springs to gush with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills, I came to birth;
before he made the earth, the countryside,
or the first grains of the world's dust.

When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there,
when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep,
when he thickened the clouds above,
when he fixed fast the springs of the deep,
when he assigned the sea its boundaries
and the waters will not invade the shore --
when he laid down the foundations of the earth,
I was by his side, a master craftsman,
delighting him day after day,
ever at play in his presence,
at play everywhere in his world,
delighting to be with the sons of men.

-- Proverbs 8:22-31

Konungadöttrarna

I had wanted to paint something based on the song for a long time:

The King's Daughters
Acrylic on canvas
23 February 2010
Konungadöttrarna | The King's Daughters
artist: Gjallarhorn (Finland)
Swedish with translation

Där kommo två jungfrur på konungens gård
-Två rosor och adeliga blomma
de voro bortrövda alltsen dom var små
-Från Engeland äre vi komne
Two Maidens came walking across the Kings yard
-Two roses, two noble flowers
they were stolen away as they were young
-From Engeland we have come
Och jungfruna inför drottningen står
och höves här allt de små tjänstemör i år.
The Maidens stood before the queen
Is there a need here for maidservants this year?

Här haver jag en förgyllande väv
säg, kunnen I väva den väven ned
Here I have a gildering web
Say now, can you weave this carpet to an end?

Den äldsta hon satte sig i vävestolen ned
den yngsta hon trädde i skaft å i sked
The elder she sat down to loom the web
the younger she threaded with weaver's reed

Det första slag hon på väven vov
där vov hon i himmel, där vov hon i jord
On the first touch on gildering web
she wove in the sky and the earth

Det andra slag hon på väven vov
där vov hon in solen å klara mån
On the second touch on the gildering web
she wove in the sun and the moon

Det tredje slag hon på väven vov
där vov hon syster där vov hon in bror
On the third touch on the gildering web
she wove in her sister and brother

Det fjärde slag hon på väven vov
där vov hon I fader där vov hon in morOn the fourth touch on the gildering web
she wove in their father and mother

Å dronningen framfö dem på golvet stå
å fagrare väv jag väl aldrig såg
The Queen came standing before the web
A carpet this fair I have never seen

Den äldsta skall taga mina nycklar i band
den yngsta skall taga min son allt till manThe older shall be keeper of my keys
the younger shall have my son to wed

Å icke är det seden uti vårt land
att syster skall taga sin broder till man
Oh, it is not the custom in our kingdom
that a sister should wed with her brother

Å det vart glädje I konungen gård
-Två rosor och adeliga blomma
när moder och döttrar de kändes åt
-från trollberget äre vi komne
And there was a joy in the King's hall
-Two roses, two noble flowers
when mother and daughters were rejoined at last
-From the trolls' mountains we have come

A tale from my financial diary

On 18 February I met an old street performer uncle in Bukit Batok interchange playing an interesting tune. I stopped by and asked him what tune it was that he was playing. He replayed it and it turned out to be a familiar song being played badly. We bade each other happy new year and I put some into his box to not feel so awkward.

Entry:
2.00 / street performer / Þ (= donations)

Apologetics Fail

The oft-quoted excerpt from an interview between Christopher Hitchens (atheist) and Marilyn Sewell (retired Unitarian minister)

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

And because Sewell threw off too much ballast, it could only happen that the many Christians that linked to this excerpt didn't take sides with her.

[source]