Raising Rockstar

1) Only the Best Comeback To That Popular Kids’ Phrase, “It’s Not Fair”.

–

–

2) Oh, to go forth, where you thought no person had been….. Until you find a Mc Donald’s there. Don’t know why I thought of that. With Rockstar’s learning unit about transport, we were following up on how you need good infrastructure – you can’t carry building materials, food, medicine without roads. At some point people need to eat…. When some big chain store comes in is when you know it’s a town 😀

And then there is the Mc Donald’s Happy Meal. Cheap little plastic toy people queue up for, resell on Ebay… Like, why? Some collectors’ stuff are basically junk to everyone else, but Willing Buyer Very Happy Seller Demand And Supply Curve Confluence = An Actual Market For This Stuff.

Again, WHY?

The answer is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A real one. Cos you figure out turning junk to treasure (think of the markup!) and you’re golden. It’s in the arches.

And baby hedgehogs who become internet celebrities after losing a tooth.

Dis is Norman

–

–

3) Harvard Student Invents Makeup Printer. Oh, to go forth, – oh wait I said that already. There we go: “The makeup industry… charges a huge premium on something that tech provides for free.” 

Thinking Outside A Box Looks Like A Box

Demo, interview and I Cant Believe She Pulled That Off all in link above. Just totally inspiring little girls who want to prettify themselves like the Disney Princesses, everywhere. (They can invent printers!)

–

–

4) Another beautiful, inspiring one. (Wow there’s loadsa these this week!) Artist turns trash into homes for the homeless, in Homeless Homes Project.

Before.

After.

Also inspiring for Rockstar’s school’s Green Week – today’s Trashion Fashion day, all the kids are on Dress Casual day in green, blue or brown, or something made of recycled stuff – on school run I passed two little girls wearing really nice rosette brooches (as in can sell for money nice) and headbands with top hats. I couldn’t think of much because it’s been hectic and my inlaws and Kings’ siblings will be here tomorrow to celebrate my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day, so I just salvaged one of Rockstar’s recycled bottle submarines-with-propellor from a science club activity, and took two mins to cut up another plastic bottle to tape to it as an arm/ hand band…

–

–

5) Dangerdust are two anonymous students who create chalk drawings. I mean, really, really nice drawings.

The quote is even better

–

–

6) On the back of that quote, Mothership’s 5 Reasons Why I Left Singapore To Move To Korea On My Own. It’s not what you think.

It’s this.

–

–

7) This week The Rockstars’ skit is titled How You Bring The Magic Into Your Ko-ko’s Comfort Zone.

Rockstar: Nuh-uh. No way. I’m on a Personal Space Issues Day. (Note the Miss’ pout)

Miss: Come on guys, a little help getting him down please?

“Fine I’ll wait until he’s asleep. …But darn, then so am I.” (Caveat: they can both kick REAL HARD)

“Success! QED!”

Happy Mother’s Day Weekend, dears.

1) To Pee, or Not To Pee, Is That Really The Question? People get more and more upset after Public Urinating Toddler Incident…….. This for the folks reading me who don’t live in HK – Google “Public Urinating Toddler In Mongkok” and you will find lotsa stuff; it will however soon become apparent why I am not putting up a visual…

Now, in the interests of full disclosure, some years ago I was livid at my daft helper for instructing Rockstar to pee in a not-discreet-enough bush, when he had to go urgently. Someone recognized Rockstar and took a cellphone pic (thankfully not during the deed) and a mummy I know who lives wayyyyy on the other side of HK sent me the pic so I could see just where Rockstar and helper had been (I am forever grateful to the mums who dithered about whether and how to tell me and then did so discreetly.)

In response to my chagrin and horror, a friend of mine, formerly a Kindy teacher said, “Sometimes when little kids need to go…..”

Thing is, I know how I felt, at the thought of someone taking a picture of that. Now the latest big thing about the Mainland toddler peeing publicly in Mongkok – there is Youtube footage of the altercation between the child’s parents and the men who took the picture but what struck me was how while the mum is fighting with the men who took the picture, the toddler who appears fairly quiet initially eventually starts crying.

The peeing and the picture are just the catalyst to fighting over discussing things people have long been unhappy over. They could…… pick something else?

Because otherwise it becomes “Ok, let’s put up more signs indicating public toilets. Let’s pass more laws about public urinating or taking indecent pictures of children. Let’s print more flyers to educate people. Let’s……..” You could light up the public toilet signs like they do the casinos in Vegas and people are still going to be unhappy because that really wasn’t what people were unhappy with to begin with. Except you’ve now spent time, effort and money on flashing public toilet signs a la Vegas. Oh, more energy wasting. Oh, more paper flyers (wouldn’t put it past someone to do that next – some years ago I remember attendants handing me paper flyers at the Peak, which were meant to inform me of how to take care of my dog and more importantly how to properly pick up after my dog because apparently the whole problem is I don’t know how to care for or pick up after my dog and a flyer which I shall dutifully read all the way from points #1 – 10 or whatever will educate me.)

So, pick something else? Like, public spitting or shoving or not queueing for cabs or the latest riot about some firefly display not displaying fireflies or………. When you think about it just the toddler needing to pee is a flakey argument for what’s really bothering people anyway.

–

–

2) To see the world, in a drop of sea water….. 

To hold infinity, in the palm of your hand…

Pic and break down of the critters in the photo here.

–

–

3) Hong Kong Red Bull Flugtag Next Weekend!

Dis is Team Mario

Nope, still don’t completely know what it is. But it sounds pretty cool. Something about a German competition where you have to launch a craft in the air with no batteries, machines or etc. This pic from last year’s was in the article:

Because donkey’s years after they invented proper flying machines they decided to go back and do something else.

–

–

4) Pregnant Victoria’s Secret Model Plans To Tell Her Daughter She’s “Smart”, Not “Beautiful”. Reminiscent of the former Ms Malaysia on my Facebook who just had a daughter and said on my FB she isn’t looking to encourage her daughter to take part in pageants. My most liberal of ex-boyfriends once discouraged me from trying modeling back in my late teens. Wasn’t difficult – I didn’t much like pictures and I never thought I had what it took to make big-time. So then not big-time, don’t bother – anything in-between is just a distraction, you’re better off being a banker. (BACK THEN. Don’t scream at me.) I mean, if you were Cindy or Claudia maybe, that’s what I thought. But now Douetzen Kroes. She did make bigtime and she’s still saying the same thing. Epiphany Alert.

Though…. while we’re on it…. parenting books will strongly advise you to praise effort, not potential ability. I guess that includes telling a child they are “smart.” Well the more obvious is potential ability may not be realized and you are setting up a child to rely on their potential, rather than hard work, when everyone needs to work hard no matter how gifted. (Think about it – if you do not first master a language, none of your brilliant ideas can be communicated in that language, and it doesn’t matter how brilliant said ideas are).. I speed-read articles or books, and can’t remember any one source I read it from – well Brain Rules For Baby probably says it too… Ironically praising potential ability actually makes it harder for potential ability to be realized (“I’m smart, I don’t need to work so hard”)…

I do think praising effort makes it easier for kids to be happy though. Finding joy in doing your personal best trumps hankering after being number 1 any day (especially since “number 1” or failing to reach that can have little to do with real effort). If kinda bothers me a little how you can win without trying and try without winning. Sure, some wins are great for career advancement and stuff, but how about happiness as a goal too, why not place your child’s emotional well-being and self esteem on something a little more certain than who they are competing against? And when you praise effort over natural ability, there’s always something you can find to praise sincerely…  

–

–

5) Sorry, was that too many words? Lemme make up for it. Model mums with their kids. SO nice to see supermodels in flip flops and tees on school run or pushing a stroller. Sure there are some red carpets, but we can all swing like, one red carpet look with kids in tow a year, right?

You know, a non-supermodel might actually be able to pull off this look! Shades and tee? Check. Messy stroller? Check. Little kid to sit in it? Check!

–

–

6) Yet another Creative Father Does Crazy Photo Manipulations Of 3 Daughters.

I love this one

Though this one is both horrifying and funny (note older girl’s expression)

–

–

6) Something a little more arty… 20 Modern Famous Painting Remakes. I still didn’t “get” all of them yet, but it gets you thinking. Man in woman’s poses, beer and McDonald’s… And hey, you know Shakespeare actually wrote a lot of x-rated stuff, right? Thought-provoking entertaining pieces back in the day – not so unlike thought-provoking entertaining not-for-kids works today. 

Oh, and I “got” this one. I’ve always loved Magritte.

–

–

7) Couldn’t resist, following the Magritte-and-look-alike… For The Children, Put Down The Smartphone…

8) Two teenaged dreams:

Paralyzed High School Hockey Player Takes ESPN Host To Prom. He dared ask.

Then-15 year Old Develops Pancreatic Cancer Test 168 times faster, over 26,000 times less expensive and over 400 times more sensitive. He dared try. (Oh, and he still got almost 200 rejection letters.) If the video doesn’t load in the link, you can skim the transcript like I did…

–

–

9) And um… The Rockstar public service message this weekend is Hair Embellishments Are In…

Unimpressed Rockstar and Enlightened Miss

 Good Weekend, dears…