November 12, 2011
The Time to Relax is upon us: Enjoy
Friends,
Dr Kamsiah and I decided that for this weekend we should feature some outstanding singing groups from the 40s to the 80s. Why? Well, singing in harmony is a challenge and these groups seem to make it easy, soothing and very entertaining.
Let us start off with the legendary Four Aces with their famous number, Love’s a Many Splendored Thing. The Andrew Sisters and The Platters follow in sequence and we are into memory lane, especially those of us who are riding into the crimson sky of the sunset (Din is reminded of the novels of Zane Grey, Mickey Spillane and Earl Stanley Gardener).
The McGuire Sisters sing the hit, Sincerely and we have included The Fifth Dimension rendering one of their popular numbers, and we wonder why Marliyn McCcoo was not able to sleep last night. Let her explain. We follow that up with The Lettermen and The Stylistics.
Indonesia’s Koes Plus, is special and deserves to be among the greats. Listen the very talented Koes Brothers and you will know why we think they are such a fantastic group.–Dr. Kamsiah and Din Merican
Four Aces
Andrew Sisters
The Platters
The McGuire Sisters
Fifth Dimension
The Lettermen
The Stylistics
Koes Plus
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
One of the greatest
How about these guys, the falsetto…
Hebat dan terima kasih untuk kenangan abadi.
Ini lagi hebat, Semper.
Can’t beat this one, launch a whole new Jersey Sound, notice how Paul gelek kepala
I think this is more your taste
Yeah.., lets drift along:
Ned I say more
Dato’, If I may be allowed to share this Inspirational article about Inspiration here with my friends. Wishing everyone an great weekend.
Why Inspiration Matters
2:00 PM Tuesday November 8, 2011
by Scott Barry Kaufman | Comments (35)
“When your Daemon is in charge, do not try to think consciously. Drift, wait, and obey.” — Rudyard Kipling
In a culture obsessed with measuring talent and ability, we often overlook the important role of inspiration. Inspiration awakens us to new possibilities by allowing us to transcend our ordinary experiences and limitations. Inspiration propels a person from apathy to possibility, and transforms the way we perceive our own capabilities. Inspiration may sometimes be overlooked because of its elusive nature. Its history of being treated as supernatural or divine hasn’t helped the situation. But as recent research shows, inspiration can be activated, captured, and manipulated, and it has a major effect on important life outcomes.
Inspiration has three main qualities. Pyschologists Todd M. Thrash and Andrew J. Elliot have noted these core aspects of inspiration: evocation, transcendence, and approach motivation. First, inspiration is evoked spontaneously without intention. Inspiration is also transcendent of our more animalistic and self-serving concerns and limitations. Such transcendence often involves a moment of clarity and awareness of new possibilities. As Thrash and Elliot note, “The heights of human motivation spring from the beauty and goodness that precede us and awaken us to better possibilities.” This moment of clarity is often vivid, and can take the form of a grand vision, or a “seeing” of something one has not seen before (but that was probably always there). Finally, inspiration involves approach motivation, in which the individual strives to transmit, express, or actualize a new idea or vision. According to Thrash and Elliot, inspiration involves both being inspired by something and acting on that inspiration.
Inspired people share certain characteristics. Thrash and Elliot developed the “Inspiration Scale,” which measures the frequency with which a person experiences inspiration in their daily lives. They found that inspired people were more open to new experiences, and reported more absorption in their tasks. “Openness to Experience” often came before inspiration, suggesting that those who are more open to inspiration are more likely to experience it. Additionally, inspired individuals weren’t more conscientious, supporting the view that inspiration is something that happens to you and is not willed. Inspired individuals also reported having a stronger drive to master their work, but were less competitive, which makes sense if you think of competition as a non-transcendent desire to outperform competitors. Inspired people were more intrinsically motivated and less extrinsically motivated, variables that also strongly impact work performance. Inspiration was least related to variables that involve agency or the enhancement of resources, again demonstrating the transcendent nature of inspiration. Therefore, what makes an object inspiring is its perceived subjective intrinsic value, and not how much it’s objectively worth or how attainable it is. Inspired people also reported higher levels of important psychological resources, including belief in their own abilities, self-esteem, and optimism. Mastery of work, absorption, creativity, perceived competence, self-esteem, and optimism were all consequences of inspiration, suggesting that inspiration facilitates these important psychological resources. Interestingly, work mastery also came before inspiration, suggesting that inspiration is not purely passive, but does favor the prepared mind.
Inspiration is not the same as positive affect. Compared to the normal experiences of everyday life, inspiration involves elevated levels of positive affect and task involvement, and lower levels of negative affect. Inspiration is not the same state as positive affect, however. Compared to being in an enthusiastic and excited state, people who enter an inspired state (by thinking of a prior moment they were inspired) reported greater levels of spirituality and meaning, and lower levels of volitional control, controllability, and self-responsibility for their inspiration. Whereas positive affect is activated when someone is making progress toward their immediate, conscious goals, inspiration is more related to an awakening to something new, better, or more important: transcendence of one’s previous concerns.
Inspiration is the springboard for creativity. Inspired people view themselves as more creative and show actual increases in self-ratings of creativity over time. Patent-holding inventors report being inspired more frequently and intensely than non-patent holders, and the higher the frequency of inspiration, the higher the number of patents held. Being in a state of inspiration also predicts the creativity of writing samples across scientific writing, poetry, and fiction (as judged by a panel of fellow students) independent of SAT verbal scores, Openness to Experience, positive affect, specific behaviors (e.g., deleting prior sentences), and aspects of the product quality (e.g., technical merit). Inspired writers are more efficient and productive, and spend less time pausing and more time writing. The link between inspiration and creativity is consistent with the transcendent aspect of inspiration, since creativity involves seeing possibility beyond existing constraints. Importantly, inspiration and effort predict different aspects of an activity. Individuals who exerted more effort writing spent more of their time pausing, deleted more words, wrote more sentences per paragraph, and had better technical merit and use of rhyming in poems, but their work was not considered more creative.
Inspiration facilitates progress toward goals. In a recent study conducted by Marina Milyavskaya and her colleagues, college students were asked to report three goals they intended to accomplish throughout the course of the semester. They then reported on their progress three times a month. Those who scored higher on the Inspiration Scale displayed increased goal progress, and their progress was a result of setting more inspired goals. Therefore, people who were generally more inspired in their daily lives also tended to set inspired goals, which were then more likely to be successfully attained. Importantly, the relationship between inspiration and goal progress was reciprocal: goal progress also predicted future goal inspiration. As the researchers note, “this suggests that goal progress and goal inspiration build on each other to form a cycle of greater goal inspiration and greater goal pursuit.” Finally, inspired individuals reported experiencing more purpose in life and more gratitude.
Inspiration increases well-being. In another study, those who were exposed to Michael Jordan’s greatness experienced higher levels of positive affect, and this increase in positive affect was completely explained by their score on the Inspiration Scale. This inspiration was not transitory though, predicting positive well-being (e.g., positive affect, life satisfaction) three months later! Inspiration was more strongly related to future than to present satisfaction. The extent to which inspiration lasted was explained by self-reported levels of purpose and gratitude in life.
These findings show that inspiration matters a lot, which may cause someone to feel pressure to become inspired and helpless to do so considering the evocative and spontaneous nature of inspiration. The writer Elizabeth Gilbert rightly expresses this concern in her inspiring TED talk. I agree with Gilbert that one should not put pressure on oneself to become inspired. These key scientific findings suggest that inspiration is not willed–it happens. Knowing this should free you from the pressure to make inspiration happen.
This does not mean that inspiration is completely outside your control. Contrary to the view of inspiration as purely mythical or divine, I think inspiration is best thought of as a surprising interaction between your current knowledge and the information you receive from the world. There are things you can do to increase the likelihood of inspiration occurring. Research shows quite clearly that preparation (“work mastery”) is a key ingredient. While inspiration is not the same as effort, effort is an essential condition for inspiration, preparing the mind for an inspirational experience. Openness to Experience and positive affect are also important, as having an open mind and approach-oriented attitude will make it more likely that you will be aware of the inspiration once it arrives. Small accomplishments are also important, as they can boost inspiration, setting off a productive and creative cycle.
Another incredibly important, and often overlooked trigger of inspiration is exposure to inspiring managers, role models, and heroes. As Gregory Dess and Joseph Picken note in “Changing Roles: Leadership In The 21st Century,” our competitive global economy requires leaders to shift their focus from efficient management to effective utilization of a company’s diversity of resources. They argue for five key roles of leadership:
1.Using strategic vision to motivate and inspire
2.Empowering employees at all levels
3.Accumulating and sharing internal knowledge
4.Gathering and integrating external information
5.Challenging the status quo and enabling creativity
Steve Jobs is the quintessential example of an inspiring manager, and he undoubtedly checked each of these boxes in spades.
To become personally inspired, the best you can do is set up the optimal circumstances for inspiration. As a society, the best we can do is assist in setting up these important circumstances for everyone. An easy first step is simply recognizing the sheer potency of inspiration, and its potential impact on everything we do.
Source: http://www.hbr.org
Sorry to spoil your party. Times are hard said the monkey sitting on the railway track. Price of Nasi Beriyani in a certain Mamak Shop in Lucky Gardens in Bangsar has increased from RM 6.50 in 2004 to RM 12.50 today. More such increases are on the way.
what the heck, Nasi Beriyani lah, the prices of submarines, patrol boats, diamonds, ammo and handbags have gone up, how else to finance them??
as Dean sings’ ..my pocket needs money and I can’t go nowhere as my car needs a motor…thats what the malaysians are going to sing soon
3 Andrew Sisters could just match 1Dean Martin!
this one is for our umno/bn politicians…you just act naturally lah, nobody will mistake you for intelligent!
To those who have fallen in love with the girls of their best friends — like Democrat??
To the gals I left behind in Malaysia who are now someone else’ s wives.
One of Dato’s favhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0UtEpu6-fE
Susie you still there??
outstanding singing groups singing in harmony
youtube.com/watch?v=MGXGqRYOfg8&feature=related
Mongkut Bean
This is more for you
Here’s to you, Semper – and to all dreamers. Keep on dreamin’.
This one is from Democrat to Dato.
thanks for reminding me of Johny Tillotson, Mr. Bean
and from Dickey Lee
wish you all a nice new week and some more new scandals in malaysia.
Dato has a daughter?? I thought DrKam has a daughter.
.and.they escaped from the planet of the Apes
This one is for Frank who hoisted Hyacinth Goddard’s panties on the palm trees outside the library.
and he made all freshies salute to the makeshift ‘war torn flag’ (full of holes) donated by Hyacinth Goddard.
The old geezers on this blog are from the Vietnam War generation, the baby boomer generation, one that is fast fading. And as we get ready to ride our kerbaus into the sunset with the first kerbau led by Dato (the lead buffalo soldier who never was, but Semper, Tok Cik and I were real gun totting soldiers), the return of U.S. soldiers from Iraq this week is a constant reminder of what war does to the soul. These war vets can never be the same again. So let us pause to reflect.
‘American Woman’ like you never head before.
Here goes …
No Wolvertine Mountain for me, here’s why
Tok Cik is my daddy.
Semper, you wanna be sugar daddy??
Got milk??
Who’s asking??
I’m lookin’ at this pic of the lovely couple way up there. Dato is not showing a lot of love. He has but he’s not showin’. So here goes ….
What wasssat about??
No Mongkut Bean, can’t afford it and no moolah moolah. No money no honey. Anyway it’s all ego. The ladies stroke it up and the geezer and his money are soon parted. I have better things to do with whatever little moolah I have.
Mongkut Bean, be careful…….
Yep, that’s the general idea. After you loosen her up a bit, after a while you wanna lose her.
To whom it may concern.
Mongkut Bean,
You finally smoked out Democrat. ha ha
Tean the monk and Tok Cik are still MIA . Dok kena Thosai and sambal kelapa kot.
No, no …. Democrat. It is now or never.
WARNING
This is not the voice of Engelbert Humperdinck singing — but that of Democrat pouring out his love, or rather a man without love.
From Democrat to “To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN”
*sob* *sob* let it go Democrat.
C’mon Democrat! Go for a beer. No, make it a dozen. In Malaysia you can drink and drive. Go drown yourself in sorrow. Take Tok Cik along just in case. Nothing can bring the old soldier down. Not even tuak.
Thanks Bean. Love all your postings here while it last.
This is what I call :
for you poor love-struck guys
women…..sometimes you do feel Like killing them!
according to Tom Jones a she could be a Lady and at the same time a Sexbomb!
Democrat,
You should give her all your blessings. Yours is not the only case of unrequited love. Tok Cik is another case. More of that later.
All these years it is Tok Cik’s dream that one day he’d be able to get laid by ‘towkay lembu’ but now that her name has made the headlines and all for the wrong reasons, he’s asking her to release him.
But Tok Cik, you still need somebody to make it through the night. Unless you want to blow ya brains out with your old 9mm.
To Democrat
Dato can feel your pain.