Did you know... ah, never mind... Episode 1 Season 1

Phobias, do you have it?

The word: Dystychiphobia

The fear: 

Open the newspaper and all you can see are - car crashes, landslides, misfortune, etc. Then suddenly you have this feeling. You didn't dare to board and airplane. You think ships and ferries are like the boat used by Charon to cross River Styx and Acheron in world of Hades. You fear and dread ACCIDENTS. Usually, people with this fear assume the worst will happen while the danger is actually absent or not so serious.

Tell me why, I never wanna hear you say...

Did you notice that when you wet you shirt, it became darker in colour? WHY?

Actually, it is something we learnt in high school. When water is present on the fabric, it refracts and disperse the light travelling to it. Also, the light is scattered when it hits on a wetted surface. Thus, less light is being reflected to our eyes (remember, the colours we see is actually due to reflection of light) and hence, wetted fabric is darker.

You know that one, what's it called again......

When you tie your shoe laces, did you notice the little plastic or metal ends? You know what are they called? Bet you don't know. I don't either. They're called aglets.

Really?! You sure or not...

According to statistics, it is showed during robberies, the people killed the most are ... (let you guess) Not old folks. Not women. Nope, not the shopkeeper either. Huh? The police? Nah.... Ok la, I tell you. They are the ROBBERS themselves. Not joking, dude...

Adapted from:

http://www.didyouknow.cd

http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-424.html

http://triviapark.com/quizzes/dayquiz.html

The Firm

Bookworm's Sanctum

Fruit of Choice:

The Firm

Plant Responsible:

John Grisham

The Flesh and Gist:

Mitch was one of the top three students in Harvard. He was a law student - with an aptitude in tax-law. He was offered with tempting jobs in New York and Washington. While he was contemplating on which to take, one mysterious firm with unheard of name - the Bendini - lured Mitch with a pay with so many zeroes that Mitch finally knew which job to take.

Despite a basic salary, he was offered with a mortagage for house, a luxurious BMW and many perks. His wife, Abby, was hilarious. They were staying in a crammed apartment and they were not about to turn down an offer that would change their life forever - for the worst. They never suspect anything until one day, an FBI rookie approached Mitch and told him about the ownership of the firm - by Mafia.

Though filled with doubts, Mitch finally believed it as his hired detective, whose job was to get info about the mysterious death of the firm's past employees, was killed and he was tailed and bugged by the firm. 

He was told that the turnover rate in the firm is practically nil. Now he knew why. No one was fired but there were those whose death were suspicious. He was warned by the firm not to contact with the FBI. He pretended to do so while secretly cooperated with the FBI, as well as an associate of the dead detective, to dig up the illegitimate files that would prove the handling of illicit money by the firm. He cooperated with the Bureau on 2 conditions - to get 2 million bucks and getting his brother, Ray, out of prison.

After the running and hiding for months, finally he also escaped from the FBI's surveillance as he had other plans. With the FBI and the mob behind his trail, Mitch escaped to live. But he was too smart and too wealthy for them. Ultimately, he taped his testimony - something he needed to do for months if he participated with the FBI to indict the firm but he was reluctant to do so due to the long time frame - which was 16 hours in length.

He also wired a total of 10 million bucks to his preferred bank. He wired 2 mill for his parents-in-law whom he dislike as they despised his poverty-stricken background back then. Another 1 mill was wired to the associate of the dead detective whom helped him a lot.

In the finale of the book, Abby and Mitch along with Ray lived on the lam, though now much less with fear since the firm was indicted and the FBI left them alone. Their only source of fear was the Mob.

Review:

Like the other books by John Grisham, the plot is full of twists and mysteries as the true identity of the Firm was shrouded in the dark until late in the story. Grisham did a great job of showing how law is used - with good or devilish intent. 

Burnt Sienna

Bookworm's Sanctum

Fruit of choice:

Burnt Sienna

Plant responsible:

David Morrell

The Flesh and Gist:

Chase was a man that had a past tainted with bloodied hands while serving the Marines. After he adamantly quitted the armed force, he forayed into a career that utterly had nothing to do with brute and force - an artist. 

Having a flair for painting, especially those of the theme of landscape, he built his reputation. In the past, he used to take orders from others and the orders - regardless of his will or discretion - were to be executed without questions. Now, he vowed he would never be led by the nose. His pride gradually took form and now, he only drew on his own whim and will. 

Nevertheless, a powerful arms dealer - Bellasar - demanded him to put his talent onto the portraits of his wife of unrivalled beauty. Chase, unsurprisingly, refused to work under orders. Both a man of pride refused to take "no" as an answer and hence, sparked the attrition between the two. Bellasar struck first by demolishing the private enclave of Chase on a remote site and closed down his favourite eatery.

Having lost all of the things his treasured, Chase tried to avenge. His friends, Jeb, asked him to join the CIA to beat Bellasar. Initially, Chase refused to cooperate and wanted to deal with his problem by himself. After weighing the circumstances, he finally gave in. 

With some wits and valour, he got to meet up with Bellasar and agreed to draw the portraits. Chase's ulterior motive was to find evidence of Bellasar's wrongdoing and rescue the damsel in distress - though the damsel - Bellasar's wife - had no idea of her imminent distress. Jeb revealed that everytime Bellasar had his wife painted, she died. Bellasar had 3 wives before Sienna - his current one. 

As Chase managed to get close to Sienna and earned her trust. He also found out Bellasar's big secret in his fortress - biological weapon. However, he didn't inform Sienna about it. However, he had graver things for Sienna. He told Sienna about the ill fate awaiting her. She confirmed Chase's warning when she entered a secret room where the portraits are hung. Along with the portraits were something more chilling - the photographs of a girl that looked like herself. In fact, all the 3 late wives of Bellasar looked the same - looked VERY MUCH LIKE SIENNA. No, they ALL looked the same like the girl in the photos - Christina, Bellasar's sister. Later, Sienna, Chase and Jeb learnt that Christina was a lover of Bellasar, despite their relationship. Christina died after she fell from a balcony of a hotel, allegedly of an accident as she doped too much. They got to know that Christina had a lot of partners besides Bellasar and Bellasar went out of control and he killed her. It seemed that Bellasar wanted to find women who looked like his sister. He treated them like trophies of collection.

Chase took Sienna away from the fortress of Bellasar and encountered resistance from Bellasar throughout their escape. Jeb and CIA couldn't get in touch with Chase and assume that Chase was dead. When CIA caught up with Sienna and Chase - now lovers - their secret makeshift location was found out by Bellasar. Initially, all of them were suspicious. Later, it was learnt that there was a mole in CIA that had connection to Bellasar. 

Finally, Chase and Jeb managed to penetrate Bellasar's fortress and killed him - without the orders of the Agency since Jeb's superior was the mole himself. However, before Bellasar's death, he infected Sienna with a modified small pox virus - ingredient that he intended to use as a bioweapon. Fortunately, Sienna was saved. Chase and Sienna lived in where Sienna's parents had their honeymoon - Siena in Italy.

Review:

The plot is nice and it has lots of suspense and unanswered mysterious earlier in the story, such as the death of wives after Bellasar had them painted and the mole in CIA. Worth reading.

Shore Reverie

The soles padded with the salted quartz

Towering, is the heavenly blue ocean speckled with tailed ivories

Where beneath it lies the cousin, the Rumbling Waters

The place where the three relatives hold their rendezvous

Away from the bustling, steel-cold forests

The sky, the earth and the waves

Idyllically blended, harbouring the soul of nature

Found nowhere else

Unparalleled

 

Where the footprints left, the strip of soil

The bond of the land and sea

Sometimes, the tie is strong

Then the bond tightened

Up goes the frothy waves, overflowing with warmth and hearth

Or the bond relaxes

The land stretches as far

To reach the receding water

 

The caress of the water

On the lazy sand

Becomes a trove for treasures of intricate designs

The Maker’s unearthly flair for art

Etched on the shells of bivalves

Some are burrowing while others are legacy of senescence

Or perhaps, of unfortunate encounter

 

Some just wish

All the ill memories erased

Like the stretch of sand washed by the lapping sea

By the shore

Changing its face each time

As the waves play tug-of-war

With the gravity and wind

Some just wish

All the cherished moments preserved

                Like the eternal camaraderie of the heaven, earth and sea

                Last from every sunrise to every sundown

                Unscathed by zephyr or gale

                Till the Earth stops turning around