Paolo Nutini

'cry me a river' cover


'crazy' cover


paolo nutini - these streets (acoustic)


i so love his collaboration with zazie - duo


p.s. erk! i'm not back yet. only that i so love his music, i wanted to have them at a place easily reached. hence, the post. i hope you'll enjoy his music as much as i do. :o)

after 316 posts, Armageddon had arrived on the blog or so it seems. there are stories to tell, thoughts to share, still but i can no longer find the time to write here. probably it'll only be a short sabbatical, we'll see how things go.

you can still speak to me @ shamsuddinms@gmail.com.

:o)

this, on the other hand, made me cry

once again, i ask ...

when is the best time to ask for forgiveness?

once a year?

during festive seasons?

or while you still can?

i wish all of you reading a selamat hari raya filled with love, joy and forgiving.

a story began

cute!

honey, i'm home!

according to luna maya, nicholas saputra was in kalimantan, shooting, last weekend. there goes my dream, all shattered. yes! i seriously meant luna maya.

apparently to meet indonesian stars, you have to be real comot + busuk, if your baju smells of your cat it's even better (my baju had bunnyguy's smell + luna maya, appeared). on the day we were all stylo + wangi, complete with light make up, none of the indonesian stars made appearance. chet!

a picture of bunnyguy (who likes to sleep in bags, be it handbags, backpacks or suitcases), by emi

meet dewi sandra (yes ... that's my tangan at the corner, doing the enter frame)

meet pasto, an r'n'b group, under glenn fredly

and the shy keyboardist, we like!

to husbands, fiances, boyfriend and potentials, who may be reading: don't worry, the cowok2 gantang are all mine, the girls are innocent, they were forced against their will to come along with me. :op

the eloquence of silence

switchfoot - crazy in love (beyonce's cover)

(note below: i actually love the cover version by 'world mestizo ensemble' feat. marian dacal ... but youtube doesn't have a video of it)

okidokk ... i'm all set for sunday + i certainly hope i'm all set for monday. i've prepared something for tomorrow + i think i can leave for mummy-o's place in a bit. woohoo!!! makan time ...

*salivating*

sigh! i had to postpone bangkok. i have to susun sepuluh jari, pinta ampun + maaf dari che tiena. hopefully, with the additional time, we can kompol more money, which should enable us to pack the whole chatuchak home.

assuming ceteris paribus, a bunch of us are leaving for jakarta next friday. woohoo!!!

during my first trip to jakarta, this year, we bumped into this particular bloke, who's seriously love struck, like it's written all over him. he didn't even realise that we were eavesdropping, registering word by word. :op

i later learnt that bunga citra lestari is the romantic interest.

phewwit!!!

he was practically floating in cloud nine, he queued for the wrong flight.

will we bump into him again? it would definitely be interesting, if we do.

i somehow regard jakarta as a romantic city. some of you might have rightly guessed why. i hope the hand above would answer my prayers...

ya Allah ya tuhan ku ...

let us bump into nicholas saputra + let him fall in love with me bekos i'm the only one in the group with no binding contract ... moreover, it is intriguing that we both like the same movie (cinema paradiso) + we both like the same author (haruki murakami) ... very the sesuai, don't you think? ... + the fact that he dreamt to be an architect since small, like wow!

so that with our union, we can bless the world with more cute children.

amin ... amin ya rabbal 'alamin

tabarakAllah hu mein hum

like magic only!

to be honest i don’t believe in ghosts, neither do i believe in hocus pocus.

when i lost an amount of money, which could buy me a pair of good shoes from nine west, someone told us that there’s toyol in the vicinity, i allowed that explanation even though i don’t believe in it, i let everyone believed it because that’s way better than them being suspicious of each other. either way, people would learn from what happened to me + be extra careful with their money.

anyways, recently i had to send a document to a hardworking someone in rhb islamic bank, circa maghrib. as i was walking towards the lift, i saw a lady in a chiffon like long white dress walking into the lift. i followed behind her and stopped in my track right at the entrance …



errr … there was a strong gust of wind blowing out from the lift shaft



errr … the lift was dark



errr … the lady was not in the lift



ok … i know i consciously saw the lady because i thought to myself, what’s her problem pakai flowwy dress like that to an office and then she disappeared … is david blaine in malaysia?

visit palestine

a perfect stranger is holding a screening at his place, i was forwarded the e-mail. i'm dying to go or at least get a copy of the documentary. watching the trailer alone was heartbreaking. :o(

ada apa dengan cinta?

Razz forwarded the below, I felt like sharing it here...

An African proverb states, "Before you get married, keep both eyes open, and after you marry, close one eye."

Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don't let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem, make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don't fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren't really important.

Once you decide to commit to someone, over time his or her flaws, vulnerabilities, pet peeves, and differences will become more obvious. If you love your mate and want the relationship to grow and evolve, you've got to learn to close one eye and not let every little thing bother you. You and your mate have many different expectations, emotional needs, values, dreams, weaknesses, and strengths. You are two unique individual children of God who have decided to share a life together.

Neither of you are perfect, but are you perfect for each other? Do you bring out the best in each other?

Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare, and control?

What do you bring to the relationship? Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain?

You can't take someone to the altar to alter him or her. You can't make someone love you or make someone stay.

If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and "a life", you won't find yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or responsible for your pain.

Manipulation, control, jealousy, neediness, and selfishness are not the ingredients of a thriving, healthy, loving and lasting relationship!

Seeking status, sex, wealth, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship. What keeps a relationship strong?

Communication, intimacy, trust, a sense of humor, sharing household tasks, some getaway time without business or children and daily exchanges (a meal, shared activity, a hug, a call, a touch, a note).

Leave a nice message on the voicemail or send a nice email.

Sharing common goals and interests.

Growth is important. Grow together, not away from each other, giving each other space to grow without feeling insecure.

Allow your mate to have outside interest. You can't always be together. Give each other a sense of belonging and assurances of commitment. Don't try to control one another.

Learn each other's family situation. Respect his or her parents regardless.

Don't put pressure on each other for material goods. Remember for richer or for poorer. If these qualities are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment, withdrawal, abuse, neglect, dishonesty, and pain replace the passion.

The difference between 'United' and 'Untied' is where you put the I.

i leave you with indonesian's anugerah 2007 contestant singing mike's cover - cintakan membawamu kembali ... asal suara diye sedap ha?

have a brilliant weekend, everyone!

things i've done before turning 30

a new addition ... played with the inflight safety demonstration kit ... ha! ... you all dah pernah try on those items ke?

she turned 21, yet again

when we were small bapak always bring home a cake with 2 big candles + 1 small candle on mama's birthday. we were asked to sign '21st birthday' cards every single time. until one day emi asked, "mama beranak emi masa mama umur 11 tahun ek?".

happy 21st birthday, mama!

(images by emi)

Jakarta City Blues

i'm falling in love all over again with jakarta indie music scene.

again, this trip, we sat @ a music store with one of them boys, going through what indonesia has to offer. the bloke was into free jazz + blues, + i discovered brilliant musicians from him. the damage? Rp. 690,000 worth of music cds. erk! (che'fara, i haven't forgotten my promise to you. will reply to your mail the soonest.)

i just love the fact that even in the 24 hours mc donolds they had a musician plucking an acoutic guitar; not just any syok sendiri plucking, ada soul ok!

if you don't already know him, meet indra aziz with 'jakarta city blues'


and tika, a fashion accessories designer, who has done back up singing for lauryn hill, with 'you belong to me'


but somehow, it was this song that mummy-o + myself kept singing, again and again ...


have a brilliant week ahead!

p.s. dvds bajakan are only RM 2.40 in jakarta y'all

i'm lovin it

i think i'm madly in love with what i'm trying to do now. i just wish i had the 'balls' to jump into it earlier, when i had more energy.

nowadays, i go home dead knackered.

tell me, who wakes up at 3 or 4 a.m. still in their work clothes, three mornings in a row? on the first morning, i came home, ate a rambutan, sat on the couch ... the next thing i know it was 3:15 a.m. + i had the biji rambutan in my mouth still. :op

i'll be back from jakarta sunday morning. see y'all soon!

interesting ...

i have this problem where i want things done fast. if i sense slow-mo-ness, i'll jump in + try help speed things up.

so i last saturday, due to accute slow-mo-ness in sight i dived in to help carry tables hoping that it'll speed things up. i zoomed in and out a shopping centre carrying tables.


when suddenly ...


jeng! jeng! jeng!


a voice went ...


jeng! jeng! jeng!


"tu laa dik, mak suruh belajar rajin-rajin, tak nak"


phewwit!!!!!


the guy actually called me "dik"!!!!! jangan marah y'all!

i leave you with float - 3 hari untuk selamanya OST


i'm off to *cough* jakarta again ... woohoo!!!

yup! i love jakarta that much! :o)

housemates

seronok rupa2nya ada housemate photographer ... posing sokmo!

studio: emi's bilik tido
model: bibots
agent (for both model + photographer): wegra

the wedding

the wedding went well, we had fun.

i didn't manage to buy a new attire, we made do with what we have. su cantik volunteered to do my make up for my wedding (when ever that is) if i loose 10 kg, i.e. if i get back to a uk size 6 ... canteek laa su!!!

i didn't know iskandar ibrahim is a rather animated character, i've always thought photographers are a passive and shy lot. his two years serious wedding photography produced a three months old nissan skyline gt-r ... pergh! hemsem siot!!! ... the car ofkos. i need to seriously consider a career change. :op

anyways, i'll upload wedding images once we get them from iskandar or my brother.

later later folks!

membebel

izan's wedding is this weekend + i'm stressed out.

apparently baju maid of honour is too lucah + to make matter worst, there's protocol istana. why didn't they decide that it was lucah when they bought the kain? i'm not sure if i have time to cari a new baju before the wedding because office work is killing me too.

can i leave the problem here + come back to it, after i'm done with work?

to be continued ...

immediately

i was 25 minutes late for 'the simpsons' ... d'oh!

i tried to wrap up early, but you don't chase customers out do you?

post 'the simpsons' teh tarik session ...



anyways, good week ahead peeps!

p.s. Forever 21 is being sued by singer and designer Gwen Stefani for infringement on designs from her L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers line ... cepat beli the baju yang diorang copy!!! :op

my simpsons avatar

meet my simpsons avatar called wegra ... ye! ye!

you can create your own avatar @ www.simpsonsmovie.com ... ye! ye!

then you can post it on your blog ... ye! ye!

esok the simpsons kuar ... ye! ye!

i was just on the phone with daddy-o ... ye! ye!

esok daddy-o's getting the tickets ... ye! ye!

he better get the kapel's seats ... ye! ye!

i'm going with a dirty dozen ... ye! ye!

after that we can memburuk lantak ... ye! ye!

after memburuk lantak, i'll komplen why i haven't loss any weight ... ye! ye!

then i'll remember i haven't been dieting or exercising anyway ... ye! ye!

then i'll panic because next week is izan's wedding ... opocot!!! ... ye! ye!

i don't know why i'm this euphoric ... ye! ye!

mabbe bekos i'm 'meeting' bart ... ye! ye!

like the simpsons is my favouritest-test-test cartoon ... ye! ye!

you have a brilliant weekend ... ye! ye!

music and i

"ya and her music", bapak used to complain.

during my last trip to jakarta, i bought 20 music CDs + 3 DVDs. in the process, we made friends with the boys at the music store in eX + hung out hours listening to CDs by current indonesian artistes, discussing indonesian films before izan decided she was hugry.

oh ya! when you go to a shopping mall like senayan city in jakarta, make sure you dress up all stylo, in full make up, with your hair nicely done. leave your crocs + havaianas for tanah abang or mangga dua. trust me, you have to listen to this piece of advice or you'll regret it!

the three of us went to senayan city in our tees, capri pants + slippers. as we entered the mall, we made a big u-turn out. after pulling the courage, we walked back in. it was like being at a catwalk, we felt out of place.

after a while, zurra nudged me + asked me to look to my left. finally, we spotted people sharing the same fashion sense - two helpers taking care of a few kids for their ma'am, who's shopping in coach.

yikes!

zurra noted, my decision to buy a CD is not solely based on the music but the cover design as well. so, if you want to sell your album to impulsive buyers like me, make sure you cover design is attractive. bila sampai rumah baru menyesal ...

:op

i wanna share a song by mocca with you - 'i remember'


have a brilliant week ahead, peeps!

Tiena's Tag

I haven’t been bloghopping, last night I found out that Ti.e.na tagged me (I left messages, but I didn't read proper). Apparently, for each meme done, a total of RM 127 will be contributed to Darul Izzah Orphanage, Bangi. The tag was started by Idham and passed over to fellow bloggers. Betul ke?

If it’s true, then here’s mine.

1) A person is only as good as their background?

2) Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity

3) To love is to accept and embrace

4) Money makes me nervous

5) I miss Brighton

6) My way of saying I care is by doing what’s best for the other

7) I try to spread love and happiness by smiling and acknowledging

8) Pick the flowers when they’re dead?

9) To love someone is to be less about self

10) Beauty is an ecstasy, it is as simple as hunger

11) When I was thirteen, what I remember the most was making Mahsuri (Red House) loose one mark because widie + myself saw cats making out during silent hour

12) When i was twenty one, what I remember the most was the haemorrhage; when they were wheeling me to the operating theatre, I asked the gasman (what do you call them?) if we could do an ER-ish scene, so they started running and fussing over me, making up diagnosis

13) I am most happy when I’m with family and friends

14) Nothing makes me happier when I see people happy

15) If I can change one thing, I will change TQ 5050 into a Chevrolet Camaro SS

16) If smiles were gold then I'll be a ‘gold’ digger

17) Wouldn't it be nice if we could travel the world and not worry about our responsibilities back home

18) If you want to French me, I French you back with my broken French?

19) Money is not everything but everything needs money today

20) The most touching moments I have experienced is when someone wrote a song for me and sang it, and when my 4N classmates surprised me with a brown Gap cap with a note 'love you lots' on the inside, on my birthday, somehow i was really terharu then.

21) I smile when I see people happy

22) When I am happy, I don’t feel hungry

23) If only I don't have to work to pay bills but work for a passion

24) The best thing I did yesterday was playing make believe with my brother melakonkan watak orang kreatif and window dressed a shop, it turned out really good, didn’t know my brother’s that brilliant

25) If I ever write a book, I will give it this title “senandung suralaya”

26) One thing I must do before I die is do everything on my before I die to do list

27) Doing the meme, I feel like I’ve wasted 17 minutes :op

I’d like to read how Miss-Cream + Mummy-o + Stupe + Muz finish them sentences. Fire away!

riding the bajaj

that's precisely how we were on the bajaj, or bajai as it's pronounced, throughout the journey to tanah abang. me being me, i had to exaggerate the shake, which had worsen the ride. :op

oh ya, meet my travel partners - izan + zurra.

the only reason i get to travel on a bajaj was both my travel partners were running low on cash + we couldn't draw money through our maybank debit card (because we did not inform the bank that we were travelling to jakarta) + we forgot our credit card's pin number (actually, i threw my pin number in the bin ages ago for fear of what i might do if i have it). teehehehe!!!

woohoo!!! i had a blast riding the bajaj, i find them fun!

if you don't already know what a bajaj is, it's the bright orange + noisy three-wheeled motorcycle-like vehicles you see scattered all over the streets of jakarta. the 'retro' mode of transportation first became popular in india where they were developed with vespa + later adopted by + built in indonesia. what is known as bajaj in indonesia are known as rickshaw in africa, moto taxi in peru + of course, tuk tuk in the neighbouring thailand.

it's the cheapest + fastest mode of travelling in jakarta, i believe. if you're doing a short distance travel, it's also the kindest way of travelling (the persistent macet in jakarta would mean it'll take ages to reach your destination + the taxi driver would only get peanuts from the time spent driving).

the ride was hot + noisy + smelly + bumpy + heart stopping; all in all a grand adventure. i loved it when my bajaj driver decided to flip a u-turn in the middle of the road + when he ignored the red light at a junction, and zig zag thru cars to cross the flow of traffic + when he went on the curb and squeezed between a sand lorry and a lamp post to avoid the macet.

if you can't afford a roller coaster holiday, i highly recommend going to jakarta for bajaj rides.

malaysian invasion ... eh?

i'm curious ... what do you see in this picture?

a convergence?

... or ...

an invasion?

perhaps a blasphemy? :op

or maybe you don't understand what i'm referring to ...

izan just rang ... told me to not fong fei kei on her ... aiyeh! ... macam boleh baca my mind je ... lucky the flight has been postponed to 11 p.m. i hope i get to finish all that needs to be done + hand over weekend tasks to my office mate before i leave.

gulp!

was at yan + lin's wedding on sunday. saw allya's parents seated at the main table. after the dinner, i ran towards them to say 'hi' but immediately they were surrounded by peeps wanting to shake hands with them, so i decided to make a big u-turn. erk!

they had indonesian songs throughout the wedding - tompi, glenn fredly, maliq and d'essentials + others. but somehow, this song stuck ... 'tercipta untukku' - ungu



have a good weekend, y'all!

bee-otch

i was at the movies again this weekend, with agus + mummy-o + enche dadad + razz + riz + aboy ... we saw die hard 4.0 in cineleisure + transformers again at the imax.

i learnt a new word as well - penggodam, from agus. apparently it's malay for hackers + it's been around for the past 10 years. i also learnt that 'spongebob' is actually a coral (that explains everything then).

hey! i practice live long learning ok ... on useless stuff.

:op

got 11 DVDs while waiting for mummy-o's phone call, friday eve. one of them being 'driving lessons', a charmingly offbeat coming of age british flick. the story revolves around ben - an uptight, friendless 17-year-old with an overprotective christian mom + a job helping out a wacky self proclaimed grand dame who is on the skids + prefers shakespeare to the catechism.

well, i quite like 'driving lessons'.

anyways, riz suggested a rollercoaster holiday, which enche dadad + myself seconded. if we're doing the trip, i look forward to getting the goofiest picture on the ride (even if it means having to go on the ride again + again) to add to my exisitng collection.



lets yok moh jom!

a reminder to self

if you can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you
if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
but make allowance for their doubting too
if you can wait and not be tired by waiting
or being lied about, don't deal in lies
or being hated, don't give way to hating
and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise

if you can dream - and not make dreams your master
if you can think - and not make thoughts your aim
if you can meet with triumph and disaster
and treat those two impostors just the same
if you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools
or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
and stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools

if you can make one heap of all your winnings
and risk it on one turn to pitch-and-toss
and lose, and start again at your beginnings
and never breathe a word about your loss
if you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone
and so hold on when there is nothing in you
except the will which says to them, 'hold on!'

if you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue
or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you
if all men count with you, but none too much
if you can fill the unforgiving minute
with sixty seconds' worth of distance run
yours is the earth and everything that's in it
and - which is more - you'll be a man, my son!

you do know them but when you're entangled in the web you can actually forget.

sapa leh teka the title + author to this piece of poetry, i bagi sepuluh sen!

i feel like leaving you with red hot chilli pepper's my friends


take care of each other + yourself.

transformers

'spiderman 3' + 'pirates of the caribbean: at world's end' + 'fantastic four: rise of the silver surfer', had left me leaving the hall unsatisfied. imagine how nervous i was stepping into the hall of my most anticipated movie, after three relatively bad experiences.

for mankind, us six stooges (read: mummy-o + daddy-o + raz + riz + en emi + meself) caught 'transformers' at 1:00 a.m.

if there is really a child inside every man, the latest actioner has the key to unleash the child within. the film is spectacularly loud + hugely entertaining + dorky cool. the plot lines were kept simple, but the snarl of action had kept me planted at the edge of my seat, even my in-case-of-an-emergency-strong-coffee was barely touched. be warned though, the movie is laced with some corny moments. yucky yucky!

honestly, this is the most fun i had at the movies, all year. 'transformers' is definitely movie of the year. i presumed the audience who saw the movie with me are on the same page on this since they applaud after the show.

i highly recommend 'transformers'!

p.s. mr dadad, it was 'to punish and enslave' instead of 'to serve and protect' on the police car, sharp eh your eyes.

the bleeding child within

'the bleeding child within' is a title of the book vivienne freeman didn't get to write ...

‘snow cake’ is a charming indie film; a collaboration between british + canadian productions. sigourney weaver gave a stellar performance in the flick as linda freeman, an autistic lady, alternating between off putting brashness, engaging honesty + bursting of spontaneous, childlike behaviour.

the movie is character-focused, precise in its arc + just roomy enough to let its performers breathe expand at the languid pace the material demands. it is funny, quirky (in a good way) + ultimately uplifting.

if you like ‘beautiful mind’ or ‘by hook or by crook’, you may like ‘snow cake’.

oh ... and i love the tracks in 'snow cake'!

"same deep water as me" - i am kloot
"alright now” - free
"notteru ondo" - japanese folk song
"deep in the heart of texas" - sigourney weaver
"northern lad" - tori amos
"just looking" - stereophonics
"anthems for a seventeen year old girl" - broken social scene
"let it die" - feist
"hello sunshine" (Radio Edit) - super furry animals

so i leave you with hello sunshine by super furry animals.


have a good weekend y'all!

this weekend, i'm doing 'transformers' with a bunch of excited 28 year olds (tak mengaku 29 tu) ... transformers ... more than meet the eyes! woohoo!!!

i love you optimus prime!

and sapa berani ... gwen stefani @ 21 august 2007, lets yok jom!

she's chuffed to bits, innit

i'm knackered, yet i'm chuffed to tiny bits!

remember last year, when i was going to jakarta, i kept on humming 'antara anyer dan jakarta' + i was real high.

i'm humming the song again + i'm buzzing. astro aruna has now become my closest friend (though i claim i had to give in to bapak, who loves the channel) with cecep from sinetron 'wah cantiknya!!', my latest muse. :op

i can't verbalise what's going on inside but i hope you'll like glenn fredly's cukup sudah. :o)



a certain someone rang me yesterday to remind me. woohoo!!! can't wait for 12 july + 07 september!

note to the other two monkeys: please don't forget to do your homework (hint: bangkok). ampun ya che tiena, i think i've been a gerhana ska cinta friend (i think i've gerhana ska cinta-d to a few friends too), do get well soon.

happy wednesday, peeps!

bumi manusia

to me 'babel' is pure genius.

i can stare at the movie over and over again, and still be amazed at the delivery.

the movie focuses on four interrelated sets of situations + characters, with many of the events revealed out of sequence, all imminently coming toward each other + coalescing as the movie progresses. its mishmash-ed story threads is not a surprise, since 'babel' is directed by the same auteur who gave us '21 grams'.

i've been thinking, it has long been an axiom of the media that bad news sells. given a choice between a mass murder and the construction of a hospital, most people will be drawn towards the massacre. to sell titles, even if its a broadsheet, the press sensationalise bad news, at least in malaysia (zuhri may come to the publishing community's defence just about now, if he reads this).

:op

fine, reporting bad news may be a public duty; but choosing worst case scenarios all the time indicates another motive or agenda. a hint to my dear readers: a worried society is a divided society; anxiety is easier to control than confidence (be careful when met with a persistant war monger).

'babel' subtly depicts the current world climate; much of humanity is returning to the days of witches, anti-christ, and self-willed apocalypse, when most of humanity is actually just trying to make a living.

is there really a terrorist threat?

since 9/11, many western leaders insist that international terrorism is the greatest threat to world security, but the evidence simply does not support this claim. come on ... how can iraq, a country which had suffered years of 'resolution 661' by un security council, create or maintain even its weapons of mass destruction.

what's unfortunate, the so-called war on terror would only spawn new, real terror. don't you think? if only the international muslim community could learn from the american history, specifically the demonisation of the african americans, maybe then we wouldn't fall into the trap.

criticism is prejudice made plausible. mencken said "for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong". i reckon there are some truth in that, i may be wrong too. menyesal tak buang masa baca this post?

teehehehe!!!

by the way, if you're looking for something to do, drop by galeri petronas for masnoor ramli mahmud's 'bumi manusia' exhibition of paintings with photographic images, which is currently on until 15 july 2007 at the gallery located in suria klcc, on level 3.

the title to the exhibition reminded me to one of pramoedya ananta toer's earlier work, sharing the same title. pramoedya's work has always been intense + there's always a vein of bitterness going through his plots. but reading 'bumi manusia', was like being pushed into a corner while the world was closing in on you. so when i finished, i felt as if i’d just been released from a menacing prison. i walked out, and never went back.

*tiba2 i see myself escaping the cells with michael scofield in prison break*

hi handsome!

maybe i was too young when i initially read it, maybe i misunderstood 'bumi manusia', maybe it's time to revisit.

have a good week ahead, peeps!

very funny, or just peculiar

last month, cambridge university announced that it will be offering courses in etiquette.

you can chart the decline of human civilisation quite nicely in what a generation thinks necessary to teach. goodbye iliad + nash equilibrium, hello elbows off the table + don't pick your nose in public.

we're turning back into monkeys, and cambridge knows it.

so, a question i'd like to pose here: how monkey-nised are we, malaysians?

well, i don't know, you tell me.

i bought this book out of curiousity, over the weekend. londonstani is the debut novel of gautam malkani, a 30-year old not bad looking editor at london's financial times.

phewwit!

and most importantly, the back cover of the book went to describe, "no matter how much jas tries, though, it isn't enough to sleep with (wait for the ayat penting) seriously fit *cough* Samira ..."

maka ... terpaksa beli buku tersebut.

it is necessary to begin with a declaration of biases: je deteste sms shorthand.

it makes me shudder, even when i see it on the screen of a mobile phone (i'll go on a shooting rampage if anyone start sending shorthand texts). i reckon different vernaculars are best conveyed by capturing the choice of diction rather than through spelling words phonetically to convey accents.

so, opening a book to find sentences such as "your glasses r so smashed up u can't count? shud've gone 2 specsavers, innit. how many a us bredren b here?" sets off shrill alarm bells in my head.

neno! neno!

neno! neno!

neno! neno!

londonstani tells a story about certain myths of masculinity that both attract and weigh upon young men, warping their relationship with the world. the novel takes a shotgun approach, blending cultures and aphorisms and pop references at digital speed. the trouble with dumping so many things in a book is that it fractures the reading experience.

nonetheless, i have a sneaking suspicion that londonstani makes a fine novel - for younger male readers, who are familiar with the cockney accent. give this book to 17-year-olds who think novels are musty entities with no bearing on their lives, and you may well find them responding with huge enthusiasm.

in many ways, londonstani is audacious. however, the bloke-ish novel didn't work for me; londonstani makes a good sleeping pill.

sapa nak pinjam?

+ update 22.06.2007+

i feel like posting a song, so here's 'perpisahan' by anuar zain ... cik pms would know the reason behind that song choice


have a good weekend, y'all!

britain's got talent

yes, agus. you're absolutely right. thanks to a lead from a friend, i've been spying "britain's got talent" itv programme. :o)

my favourites from the show:

british beatboxing talents from leeds - crew 82, they've been around + been touring the uk but haven't broken into the main stream. now they've invaded "britain's got talent".

they're brilliant!

i went bonkers listening to them.

ch-ch-check them out!

but it was kombat breakers, the talents from coventry who brought tears to my eyes. sebab pernah work with kids like them kot gwe emosi terlebih or perhaps, what simon said to them about being incredible role models.

... and adorable george with his aspiration ...

... bessie curzon's audition as well. she's definitely a west end material.

i just love damon scott's bubbles .... rather hilarious!

but you have to listen to the blingest grandma rap! ... she's funny as well.



if you're not familiar with free running, here's a group of free runners from essex who auditioned. free running was inspired by parkour, an art of movement, which was born in france. if you noticed in the introduction to the movie "casino royale", there was this dude running, freeflowing around urban constructions, he adopted parkour techniques.

the mancunians were embracing the parkour + free running movement, as i was leaving the city centre. so the boys in this clip brought back memories.

anyways, good weekend + good week ahead, y'all!

+ updated 18.06.07 + the programme ended on sunday + paul potts, the carphone warehouse singer below, won!

+ updated 19.06.07 + a quickie update, i missed the post stupe had on his alumni dinner, got my picture below! phewwit! as usual, i songlap the picture sesedap hati without permission. :op

hi stupe! good to see you + wifey again. can't believe ryan is 10 kg @ 7 months old!

awesome talent

i was reduced to tears, the carphone warehouse salesman blew me away. check him out!

+ update +

azean irdawati is down with breast cancer + is short of cash for the mastectomy operation. if you or anyone you know wish to chip in + help out. buzz me for her details.

no storm lasts forever

"badai pasti berlalu" is a remake of 1978 indonesian movie with the same title. the original movie was directed by teguh karya, and teddy soeriaatmadja directs the remake.

it tells a story about siska, who's heart was broken once when her fiancé cheated on her + since, she had turned bitter + cold towards men. when she pulls her courage to love again, she got hurt-ed again, and again ... kesian.

the director tried to fit too much into the 90 minutes, he failed to allow siska's story with helmi, a conman, grow, so much so i forgot to hate helmi. one scene in this remake reminded me of "cinema paradiso", well it's actually an exact photocopy of the scene from "cinema paradiso". kantoi!!!!

hehe!

if you girls want something light on a lazy sunday afternoon, i'd recommend the movie (not for the boys, they would tear their hair out watching the flick ... but brucie should see the movie, since the door to his heart had been bulldozed, i bet he can 'feel'). i wouldn't recommend mummy-o see this film though, bekos she'll definitely use up all tissue papers in the house. :op


another reason i think "badai pasti berlalu" would appeal to most readers, especially them who appreciate all things beautiful is vino goivanni bastian ...

owh!

sapa nak pinjam DVD (original ok, not bajakan) to drool over vino sila register diri di sini (this offer applies to both boys + girls).

:op

ipang - 'ada yang hilang' from OST Realita, Cinta, dan Rock 'n' Roll.

feng tau nation

i haven't been doing any feng tau since the salem genting rave party in 2004. al-maklum, dah tua. last saturday, kawan punya pasal, i feng tau-ed. that same evening (or morning, rather), i made another record ... things i've done before turning 30 now includes berbaring di tengah jalan, bersebelahan one utama + lari lintang pukang apabila kerata datang menghampiri. a moral police, upon reading my post, may group me with the others in feng tau nation + label us as 'rosak akhlak' or 'social'. a cool snob may cringe at the confession of my latest things-i've-done-before-turning-30 input.

i on the other hand, i don't think its fair to judge people by them superficials. what's important to me is that a person have a good heart, they have the best intentions + they don't intentionally hurt others.

live life to the fullest (how ever you define it)!

kaer - 'izin ku pergi'