Trigger Happy

Was reading an interesting article about memory...

Yeah, I know you're thinking "it figures....!"

Of course mishio is interested - after all, I'm losing mine quickly and want to jump on the next fad bandwagon to try to preserve what's left of it.

Gingko?
Play Majong? haha - what do I have to do? Just say the word!

But seriously, ..........fascinating how our brain works, isn't it?

Well, I'm not really in school anymore so I wasn't exactly studying the article. And of course, no one really has the workings of our brain pathways and memory all figured out, but we do know that an individual memory of an event is not stored as a neat chunk tucked away in the corner of our minds somewhere, but rather, as a bunch of interelated bits distributed all over our brain, such that these memories can be reawakened via any one of our sensory channels. Just a small aspect of that entire memory...be it a smell, a noise, a sight....can trigger access to the memory in whole all over again.

The interplay and interdependence of these memory pathways are so curious - this essentially forms the basis of the success of advertisements, doesn't it? Associating their product to a popular spokesperson in turn leads to the linkage of all positive feelings towards that spokesperson to be transferred to their product. Guess it must work or else why do these CF models make so much?

Haha, I still remember this bomb of a Japanese sister who was taking a stroll with me in Seoul one day....we were just gabbing absentmindedly when she saw a glimpse of something like this from the corner of her eye...

Whoooosh........(insert wind noises)...

Ummm...where'd she go????????????

She had taken off, sprinting at the speed of light down the street.

At the street corner, she pointed and then turned to call back to me - I think she yelled the name of this man :)



"Oh..........my..........G........! It's JAE - HO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Hahaha--so cute.

Of course, it was all for show and for my benefit.
But it was also true that the appearance of that Jaeho look-alike car triggered the thought which formed the basis of that joke. And to this day, when I see a blue and white sports car pass me by, I am not only reminded of Jaeho, but also my dear friend and of course, her comedic sequence.

OMG! Come to think of it, thank goodness for if it were the real car or the real Jaeho, I don't doubt for a moment that this energetic lady would've run a full marathon! haha. In heels no less.
(Now suddenly...kekekeke....the image of Forrest Gump running around the country comes to mind! :)

Anyway...I guess I didn't come in to log a blog about memory pathways.

In recent days, what with the stories about YJssi floating around in USA somewhere, and with the recent both good and bad news about winners and losers of the Osaka Event lottery...there's been some steady but quiet chatter once again about whether BOF or even the man himself understand just how much support he has from foreign countries aside from his immediate vicinity in S. Korea?

And of course, everybody knows that they do/he does.

But in a fit of frustration about how things have been handled lately, I guess it is also not hard to understand why foreign fans would feel a little down, a little neglected even... Not unusual for fans to ask questions like, "Do they even know we're alive?" "Do we (foreign fans) even cross him mind, like ever?"

Well....I haven't any idea why operations at BOF and their communications with regards to handling fans' needs and enquiries cannot be any better improved upon. And I haven't any idea if we even have a right to ask anything of them. I stopped having these one-sided expectations quite a while ago.

Patience, folks.
Patience. (I think...)

But one thing I think I can attempt to answer is this:

Yes, of course he knows we're out there. And that we're alive.

And of course, within his secure mind in that little pretty little head of his, of course we've been imprinted in at least one of those memory pathways in there somewhere.

Why?

Coz....

Well...I don't have much to go on, but remember all those harsh days when he was spending all those difficult hours, days, weeks on the outdoor sets of TWSSG? During one of those neverending work days, when he got a break, he would actually steal a moment of rest by plopping himself.........

on this:


Heehee ... bad pic, but see that now famous silhouette of a giant man there, next to YJssi's vehicle? Yup...that to your right is Mr. Shin, his ever ready bodyguard who had often offered the helping hand of unloading and loading this chair for him most of the time.

"Ho-hum" you say? :D

C'mon..it's not that much of a stretch is it?

Heehee, now....you don't suppose he would have had at least a flicker of thought about his Canadian fans and his generous gift donor........ at least once during all those days, would you :) ? Yeah...the flag was kinda conspicious, no? :p Even the fans on hand - those who started spotting this on the field - began to get a bit jealous when they saw it!

OK. Anonymous Canadian gift donor(s), are you/you all smiling out there?

And what about that last week in April when he suddenly took off for New York?

During a salon outing one of those days, a bae-sis described his rather special outfit.

Looked exactly like this, in fact:



Hmmmmmmmmmm....that's part of the 2008 Olympic edition gear for Australia. Must have looked SMASHIN' on him!

Who the heck knows but as far as we are publicly aware, he's not been that way this year...so...........
It should have been a gift. No......it must've been a gift!
Would the happy and giddy gift donor come forward please??!!!

And...what? You think he's not going to remember his kind Australia fans when his mind drifts to Australia as he dons on this outfit?

OK. OK. It's still not much to go on, but hey, beggers mustn't be choosers!:D
Bear with me - it's just my feeble attempt to bring some minor cheer to my bummed out N. American sis. C'mon, everybody..cheer up a little?

Oh...and btw.....you mean...............

You mean............... he actually personally thumbs through some of his massive volume of gifts? Still?

Like....really, really?
Wow..................YJssi, I am sooooo impressed!