Alarm (Feb.28)

How do I wake up in the morning? I've got an alarm clock. I named him Kellogs cause he reminded me of that rooster in the old Cornflakes ad. And after 4 weeks of calling him Kellogs I remembered that that Cornflakes roosters' name was Cornelius. Anyhoo, he's a bit of a annoyance, but at the same time he's literally the cock of the walk, and that's always funny to see. His entire purpose in life is to announce his presence. It's also just kinda funny to see the barnyard politicking up close. Animal Farm never seemed so real.



Also on the topic of animals, I never realized how dumb goats are. Simply judging from appearances, goats are basically sheep with Down syndrome. But an even more telling sign of intelligence is their survival instinct. Here, driving is not a pedestrian-friendly sport. People dive out of the way in a amusing, "Crazy Taxi" sort of way. Even the cows and dogs do it. In fact, cows apply a complicated mathematical formula to determine what I call the Scramble Factor. If the cow feels that the incoming vehicles' weight & speed exceeds the cows' stopping power, then it will quickly dash out of the way. Babies are even more cognisant of their size disadvantage and are the first to leap to safety. The converse is true as well. If a motorcycle is going down a bumpy dirt path at about 10-15 km/h, the cow knows we have to stop. So they will slowly amble out of the motorcycle's path, and usually only to stop the incessant honking.

Goats however, do not possess this survival calculator. This is why we hit that baby goat today. It was the most unfortunate occurrence and I was sickened by the thud sound. I'm not sure what my karmic responsibility is as I was sitting shotgun, but was fast asleep. Here's a tip for those who find themselves in a similar situation. Don't look back.

about Sri Lanka, from Singapore