WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IMAGES CONTAIN VERITABLE TRUTHS THAT CAN BE OVERWHELMING AND EXTREMELY HARD TO PROCESS. IF YOU HAVE A WEAK SPOT FOR LOUIS VUITTON GOODS OR IF THE WORD ‘IMPECUNIOUS’ BORDERS UNFATHOMABLE, PERHAPS MAKING YOUR GOLD-COATED MIND WEAK, PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED!
The picture that tops them all. From a literary/art/bullocks stand point, the most minuscule phallus, erected due to the presence of a woman’s mouth lest than 10 cm away, highlights the central theme of paucity and dearth. The phallus wishes to reach out and feel the warmth of a good blowjob, a nice in-and-out rub, but is ultimately held back by the pants. This extended allegory shows how much these Vietnamese wish to have a more comfortable life (the blowjob) but fails to experience it because they live in an almost under-developed country that stiffens such hopes (just like the pants stagnating the phallus from reaching out). I find the picture composition extremely erudite (and it is no mere coincidence) as the phallus is carefully placed in the middle of the frame, hence, catching our attention immediately.
That aside, the issue of gender inequality is also highlighted in the picture. Note how the lady literally sits at the feet of the man, on par with the basket of chickens at the back of the bike. To degenerate the position of women as such clearly expresses the fact that Vietnam’s a country with an obvious lack of feminists. Why so? Connecting this to the aforementioned theme of lack and scarcity, the theme of gender inequality simply reiterates (from a macro point of view) the country’s poor conditions and inability to direct more resources to facilitate better education (due to high opportunity costs) and hence, failing to produce intellectual women.
Another disturbing factor of the image is how the bike appears to be moving towards the Left of the frame. When it comes to symbolism in regard to ‘Left’ and ‘Right’, there’s simply too much to debate about. In my opinion, the direction of the bike could be interpreted in two ways. One: instead of progressing forward (and Right usually means forward because we are trained to read from the left to the right), the country is so under-developed it is going backwards instead. Two: it could show that these Vietnamese are unhappy with the ruling government and that in due time, will strike out radically. The premise of my statement is based on the assumption that heading towards the ‘Left’ direction indicates a left-wing political movement.
Here’s more to “analyze”, go crazy!
Filed under: Emails
I woke up this morning and found these written admonitions (more like sayings of the wise if you ask me) in my inbox. Now usually I don’t have the patience to slowly read through forward mails, often sending them straight to Junk without even the slightest courtesy of unpacking them. But when it came to this mail, something in me said “Read!”
I hope you too will make it a point to read and absorb these inestimable words of advice and hopefully, they will bless you as they did me.
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Trust is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation.
NO POINTING FINGERS
A man asked his father-in-law, “Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?”
The father-in-law answered in a smile, “Never criticize your wife for her shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than you.”
We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mistake, he would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at. This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at ourselves.
If we forgive the others, others will ignore our mistake too.
CREATING PERFECT RELATIONSHIPS?
A person visited the government matchmaker for marriage, SDU, and requested “I am looking for a spouse. Please help me to find a suitable one.” The SDU officer said, “Your requirements, please.” “Oh, good looking, polite, humorous , sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour, if I don’t go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest.” The officer listened carefully and replied, “I understand you need television.”
There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a blind wife and a deaf husband ,because the blind wife cannot see the faults of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of the wife. Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of perpetual perfect relationship. Unfortunately, when the excitement of love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed of roses. The nightmare begins.
NO OVERPOWERING
Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another,or demands too much. People in love tend to think that love will conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after marriage. Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that “It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person’s character.”
It is not easy to change. Thus, having high expectation on changing the spouse character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness.
It would be less painful to change ourselves and lower our expectations..
RIGHT SPEECH
There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that “A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation.” Many relationships break off because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other,we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything without considering if it would hurt the other party.
A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted,”Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school.” On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, “Luckily you married me.Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker.” She answered ,”You should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he will be the millionaire and not you.”
Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad relationship. It’s like a broken egg – cannot be reversed.
PERSONAL PERCEPTION
Different people have different perception. One man’s meat could be another man’s poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home,a boy commented, “Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey?”Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, “The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?” Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.
Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, “How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman.” The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, “Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you.” Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders.
It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.
Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..
BE PATIENT
This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy’s hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.
Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy’s hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, ” Daddy,I’m sorry about your truck.” Then he asked, “but when are my fingers going to grow back?” The father went home & committed suicide.
Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or u wish to take revenge. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love. Trucks can be repaired.. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can’t. Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge.
People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.
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