Thursday, July 3, 2008

Skull Culture


Hi Hi ..... It's slow news days again after HRH has left Japan, eh? Hehe, I notice bb and other sisters have been checking out every item HRH is using lately - the rebellious John Galliano coat, elegant Damiani jewellery, sleek pilot pen and even that ultra-cool SEI water bottle! Btw, isn't it amazing how much trend you can pick up just by looking at HRH and learn from other sisters? It is really an eye-opener for an ajumma like me, so here is my little tiny share on his 'yester-year' jewellery ......

Remember some time last year, HRH was wearing this beaded bracelet in his CREA photo shoot with Leslie Kee. I always thought it is a buddhist bracelet as I have seen people wearing it as a symbol of safety (right?)



The other day, I was casually strolling inside Esnation, a unique clothing store in Tokyo. I had no idea why I stumbled into the men's accessories section since hubby is just a plain old suit-and-tie man, not the flamboyant hat-necklace-bracelet type of hunk like HRH. Then I spotted this :

You probably recognize his famous 'Rockstar' necklace which he wore numerous times at the airport and to weddings. This bracelet, simply named the 'Skull' bracelet, is also designed by Luis Morais. The beads are black Macassar ebony from the Indies with brown diamonds in the eye sockets of the platinum skull.



At first glance, I wasn't too thrilled about the skull figure (hehe, not my favourite sight in the middle of the night for sure :) Upon digging deeper, the designer wants to express a deeper meaning :

The symbol of skull is a reminder of our temporal existence in this world. It dresses us down on prejudice towards other human beings.

How profound! I wonder if our Yong Joon chose this necklace-bracelet set because of its special spiritual denotation?

24 comments:

gosijo said...

Hi Jaime,

Congrats on the detective work! Serendipity seems to have played a role too, haha!

The skull meaning is very profound and goes even beyond the 'Asia is One' concept in my mind. This is not to say I don't understand that you have to start somewhere and home / close to home is the best place to do that - a pilot project or proof of principle, we could call it.

Just wanted to comment on the last pic, one of many of my faves in the series. I find this one really challenging. It seems to be a test: what is your first wish when you see that picture:

a) Ask him to go on, take that shirt off
b) Sketch those thousands of beautiful lines
c) Simply stare at the utter beauty of this man
d) Ask him what's in his mind at that moment; what makes him tilt his head like that and lower his eyelids? Has he perceived a new note in a well-known piece of music? Is he suddenly understanding a new layer of meaning in words he's read a hundred times?

For me, more than anything, it illustrates the co-existence of physical beauty with intellectual beauty in this ever-surprising human being.

jaime said...

My dear gosijo,

So true, so true. Before the 'World is one' or 'Asia is one', maybe it's more attainable to have a caring and honest relationship with people around us - family, friends, neighbours etc. first, then we can expand to the ideal that HRH is aiming for.

Hehe like what you said, that bracelet is simply a chance encounter. But dear gosijo, I am just a simple gal with very weak will power, so my first wish when seeing that picture is :

HI GORGEOUS, TAKE THAT SHIRT OFF!

And you?

Thanks for such amusing choices, I like to execute all options, may I? :)

love ... Jaime

bbmag said...

thanks, jaime!!
so... it was a LM piece as well :p

and... gosijo, how come there's no option as 'Go do a bare belly-rub with him'?? :p

jaime said...

Oh my lord princess, it's so late and I am not even thinking straight now. I assume you mean a 'hand to belly rub', how come I even think of 'belly to belly rub'? :)

gosijo said...

Hi Jaime and bb, you young things!

I guess the answer to your questions is that you may now call me 'ajhuma'. And a blushing one, at that.

As for me, I would most certainly go with option d. First.

Anonymous said...

Hee . gosijo,

Here's another "ajhuma" I was thinking of option d too, smiling, no blushing though even after reading those two young things' choices, just enjoy, girls ...

love,
Y.

Anonymous said...

Hi, hi Chinggu!

Here I thought these naughty gals are talking about "Skulls", hehehheh! Never thought that it would now have to be about taking HIS SHIRT OFF, rubbing belly to belly, hand to belly, bare belly to.....,whatever the next stop is after the belly?

My innocense(where did this come from anyway?hahahahh!) have long been corrupted so I do not mind having that belly rub with him(thanx Jo Oni for making that first choice for all of us!)but if we do a belly-to-belly rub won't the "LOWER PART(s)" be rubbing against each other too?!!!!:0!!!

Hi bb! love that option you've mentioned. This will keep all our minds & knees weak for the time being, LOL!!!

Keep posting gals & we'll see just how naughty everyone can be!

Love, Judy

jaime said...

My dear 'blushing' gosijo and 'unaffected' yee,

What if HRH's answer to d is simply, "It's freezing here with my shirt open, I just wish some kind souls will rub my belly and make it warm!"

Hahaha, who can resist such an innocent but 'possibilities-filled' proposition?? Sorry for making you blush.

love .... jaime

jaime said...

Aiya dear chinggu,

You are too naughty this time! Now I am blushing :)Should we blame it on him being too gorgeous? Even proper & prim housewives are dreaming wild?

Come to think of it, how did the attention from his 'spiritual' bracelet being shifted to his 'sinfully sexy' body?

Now chinggu, shake that thought off and have a happy normal day, ok? try anyway :)

love ... Jaime

bbmag said...

err... logically what judy said is true. but alas, my belly's so huge that nothing else will be touching during the bare belly-to-belly rub... sighs...

p.s. jaime... who said anything about hands? :p

Anonymous said...

I am a fashion lover and always welcome and appreciates to latest designed jewelry.

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone!

Princess, you can always,always INNOVATE. Okay, b4 we go anywhere deeper(already there, think so? heheheh!) Why not rub each other's belly while you lie flat in bed or vice-versa? Uppssssy, hehehehhe! That way, no "spaces" are left unrubbed, hohooho!

Happy to interact & inter-discuss with you guys. My days are much, much happier & lighter knowing that our inner naughtiness have somewhere we can put into "good use." ;)!!!!

Chinggu, just cannot resist getting wild & wacky with all the chest baring pics! Now, if only some undies company want to put up YJ as their model, how could David Beckham fare in terms of sales when Asia's supermega actor bares himself in a spread that would make all ajumas like us drool inside our kitchens?Hehehehahahaha!

Love yah guys!
Judy

Anonymous said...

Skull is very, very prominent is Catholic Christian art. And for the very reason you mentioned about the artist of the bracelet, because it's a reminder of the temporality of all things and our own mortality. Many great works of Christian art feature a skull, one of the most famous is the Caravaggio of St. Jerome. St. Jerome was a hermit who lived in a cave, he was a mystic, and he was a great theologian and Biblical scholar. It was he who gave the world the Latin translation of the Bible. It was his life's work and he did it all by hand. It took him decades. It was said that he also had difficultly getting along with others and he struggled with an abrasive personality and a bad temper. In other words he was a real human being. When he worked or meditated he always had a skull placed near him and he would often meditate upon sin and grace, life and death, heaven and hell. The skull helped him to remain humble, to overcome himself and to do God's work.

HeippieH said...

Dearest Jaime,

Thank you for creating such a nice topic for us to THINK and TALK on, after all these *week* of me being away, I am so happy to read your insightful posting. This posting stimulate minds from all directions, be it the naught minds or serious minds, and attracted talents from all areas, be it fashion design, or theologian study. Sharp observation, astute perspective. Love it!

On the naughty side, I would choose option e, no need for any word, I'll simply help him take off his shirt, no question asked, what will happen next? I'll promptly *embrace* him from the front since that's what he prefers. What will happen next? Well bellies will inevitably rub, that may be the best time to start the conversation by asking him the questions listed in option d.

On the serious side, I have long before came to the conclusion that there is so much similarities between the Catholic and Buddhistic practices, that I am almost sure they are all inspired by the same God. Look, they all have the notion of saints, the beads (rosary), the image of a merciful/powerful female mediator (Mary), etc. And now Jaime and dimples just gave us another proof - the skull.

Nice to see you all here gals!

jaime said...

hi Alice,

Welcome! So you like fashion and jewellery? okie, maybe we'll talk more fashion in the future :)

but but what about HRH?

love ... jaime

jaime said...

Hi Dimples,

Welcome! Hehe, somehow I picture you have dimples when you smile :)

Thank you for your introduction to St. Jerome. Like you said, I think it's important that we have people (like parents, friends, mentor) or objects (religious symbols, even a book) around us to remind ourselves why and how to live a responsible and fulfilling life.

We are very fortunate to find BYJ who leads such a prudent life and serves as great inspiration to his family. And then, we have our sisters who are so caring and loving towards each other. I guess I can bypass that skull bracelet for now, hehe, I can't afford it anyway :0

Thank you for your thoughtful comment, please take care!

regards ... Jaime

jaime said...

my dearest h,

So happy to hear from you, I miss you a lot!

So you want all options too? Hahaha, hugging from the front, I like I like I like (quote from the princess)! Hehe with his height, I can just imagine it's perfect for us to rest our heads on his chest, smelling his long hair and studying his Rockstar necklace :) Errrrrr, I say that'll probably take a good hour, right?

Please take care of yourself, ok? I'll email you soon.

love .... jaime

jaime said...

Now now princess and chinggu,

After reading what you two 'young things' are up to, I've changed my mind. I am going to button up HRH's shirt all the way up to the collar myself.

love ..... from this 'not so young' thing

bbmag said...

okie.... but can get a bigger sized shirt so that you can button me up inside as well? :p

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad to reading these at home
so my coworkers can hear and see my very naughty laugh.

I 'm small enough to have to stand up in tip toes to be able to rub my belly against his
*insert gigles here*

I don't mind at all that he is so big that can engolf me in a hug,
yes from the front as he likes.


The though of a good hug against that very firm and beautiful chest of him, makes me errr... very happy to be a girl.

And yes my belly can be rub by him, anyway he might want,
all options
a, b, c, d, e.

And is so hot these days do not put him a big shirt he might hot
and start to sweat, we might have to cool him down with some water.

*just think of it that bucket of water runing agaist his very well form abs*


I will run away now and hyde for a wile
*yes all blush up*

Moontime

HeippieH said...

Dearest Jaime,

You really think "it's perfect for *us* to rest *our heads* on his chest"? Well you are such a friendly sharing sister, I am so sorry that I can not match with you on these virtues. I would only allow *me* alone to rest *my head", and my head only on his chest. As for studying his Rockstar necklace, sorry again I don't have that much of a brain, I am good at removing any un-necessary objects from him and applying my other skills on him, one of the safest being massaging. Hehe... well I do like his necklace, always think he looks so sexy with that cross-like necklace. Is it a cross?

Just came back from Charles River viewing the fireworks for the 4th of July. It was spectacular.

Love seeing your postings, will read more slowly, saw the Fairy Tale series II came out, wow, you are so productive!!! Solute!!! I would attempt to translate, but can't guarantee for the speed since this summer is tough tough with kids and work.

Love,
-H.

jaime said...

dear moontime,

Sorry for the late reply. hehe sorry for making you blush. I hope we didn't get too carried away :)

love ... jaime

jaime said...

dear h,

Please do not feel pressure to translate. I know you are very busy and family comes first. Hehe, if BYJ can take so many months to rest, so can we :)

Please take care!

love ... Jaime

Anonymous said...

Dear Jaime and Bae sisters:
It took me sometime to think over this and even to write it in public. But although the skull bone bracelet is hip, cool, punk; even it it may resonate with the Buddhist prayer beads or mallas in Tibetan practices, I am not confortable seeing Bae Yong Joon wearing it, specially together with a crucifix necklace. It reminds us of the aspect of injury, disease, death that strike fear. It is also a symbol of Masonry and the Knights Templars. It is religiously controversial, so I am wary to discuss it really. Does it bless one with good fortune, or let the negatives -- injury in fingers, broken spines, and hurt bones in the legs, etc. enter one's life?
I prefer the fairies.
Sarang Hamnida,
Josephine