Thursday, March 29, 2007

all falls down - kanye west



posted this song in december 2005, felt like doing so again.

and WOMAD is coming to singapore between 24 to 26 august. harks!

Friday, March 23, 2007

writings on paper

some may be aware that i strongly 'advocate' the "vida!" magazine; a local magazine for the stylish + intelligent (so i claim, chkononnya lah). if you fancy good writing on real issues being married into a stylo fashion magazine, "vida!" is it.

a recently launched magazine got my attention - "tell". vida!'s writings are more superior, in my humble opinion but tell is a refreshing addition, if you're into good writing that is.
incidently, on wednesday there was a book launch at the annexe + the whole tell team was there. imagine my excitement. then it click (after a few seconds of beyond words teruja-ness), dina zaman in tell is the same "i am muslim" dina zaman.

earth to wegra ... do you read me?

the do was fun, mummy-o + myself had a great laugh albeit at ourselves. i even naik sheikh with the kompang. :op
just before having to drag our feets out, a question was thrown at me, "would you like to do theatre?". unfortunately, the question found me when i was in my bimbo moment, "huh? do theatre ... on stage or sitting down watching?"

aiyoh!!! like d'uh!

(for more pictures, do visit my aunt's blog - rubyahmad.blogspot.com)

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

boast of quietness

writings of light assult the darkness, more prodigious than meteors.
the tall unknown city takes over the countryside.
sure of my life and my death, i observe the ambitious and would like to understand them.
their day is greedy as a lariat in the air.
they speak of humanity.
my humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty.
they speak of homeland.
my homeland is the rhythm of a guitar, a few portraits, an old sword, the willow grove's prayer as evening falls.
time is living me.
more silent than my shadow, i pass through the loftily covetous multitude.
they are indispensable, singular, worthy of tomorrow.

my name is someone and anyone.
i walk slowly, like one who comes from so far away he doesn't expect to arrive.

Friday, March 16, 2007

sunday

zarique, a friend from university, once described me as "she's everywhere". i was young + full of energy + ambitious then.

sunday, i tested myself to see if i'm forever21; i went around town searching for ideas + observing, went home for a bit, saw cik pms + bodyguards, squeezed wes borland in, rushed over to my brother to send his work ID, went over to skodeng riz+raz's new crib (fell head over heels with bukit jelutong's township), conquered the swing at a playground, got bossed around by the 2 year old adib + didn't know how to handle him so i ended up being his kuli, saw mukhsin + i intended to continue working late night but i fell asleep as soon as i reached home.

aiyeh! i failed miserably ...

you know, perception can be orchestrated. what's important is the voice behind it; if its loud enough or influential enough.

the retail mix in subang parade reflects the perception the outsiders have on the community in subang jaya. people kept on telling me that the perception is accurate but i know my neighbours and myself do serious bhajus shopping elsewhere. subang parade is still where we meet to socialise and hang out. despite the extensive rebranding + repositioning strategy, it fails to change how we 'use' the venue. if you ask me, the retail mix is not attractive enough (+ i'm not the type of person who'll layan lame mall events + activities). perhaps, the 'we' i'm talking about are not their target market (i'm sure one utama + klcc + mid valley + petrol kiosks in between are grateful).

if i may ask. which is the case?

the pj community are duh when it comes to art-ish, so there are no the annexe or paul's place in pj (there are art gallaries though) OR because there are no offerings like such in pj, we had no choice but to drive into kl to get the fix?

do you really need to address the wants + needs of your existing surrounding community pun to ensure traffic? i mean, what is KLPac doing in sentul? well, investment on retention + acquisition should be 50-50 so...

stop feeding me with negativity. if he wants ted baker in pj, we give him ted baker and more.

yang benar,

the penat bekerja blogger

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

impossible is nothing

growing up to yasmin ahmad's petronas ads, i accept that you don't really have to 'sell' your product to 'buy' customer loyalty. 'playing' with their emotion works.

i quite like adidas's new campaign "impossible is nothing"; focusing on personal challenges the athletes have overcome in their rise to fame. each athelete tells their unique story through personal artwork.

i'm talking about adolf dassler's adidas not korn's adidas ok!

i leave you with some of the trailers ...






oh ya! i was surprised to find an adidas factory outlet in jaya shopping centre (thinking the place's dead), they retail quite extensive stylo adidas line (post dr martens craze, i suffered demam adidas trainers). and i so love the retro bags...

*drool*

Thursday, March 08, 2007

attack of the tuneless freaks




no ... not them. they're quite good, actually.


but them, them below ...








"total crap!" - mojo

"i want my money back" - nme

"worthy of your time than a contemporary like william hung" - rolling stones

"baik dengar CD diana naim" - urtv

*speechless* - cik puan muda stress

"hi weggie, suara you kelasss!" - anisism

*speechless* - ti.e.na

"do i know you?" - reshmonu




"i don't believe in words, i believe in pictures", words of magnum photographer - gilles peress.

but pictures can 'lie' too, right?


anyways, 'sonnet' by richard ashcroft


have a good friday.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

busana melayu


i used to wonder why dulu2 kebaya pendek sulaman nyonya are worn with pesisir batik sarong/kain lepas; particularly those with pastel tints or a one colour design with many shades of the colour, whilst kebaya pendek sulam melayu are worn with batik sarong/kain lepas, which are of darker indo-european designs or javanese earth toned designs?

last year, in jakarta, i found out that them batik sarongs/kain panjang worn by the nyonyas with their kebaya pendek were produced by java's chinese community, introducing chinese design elements + colour palette. make sense doesn't it?

today, you see a multitude of design influence in a piece of batik; with hybrid european, chinese, japanese, indian + malay world designs. the way we pakai our kebaya pendek pun, we rojak everything asalkan it's aesthetically appealing to the eyes. talking about convergence of cultures.

why the sudden blabber on batik + kebaya pendek?

izan just rang to ajak me do jakarta with kairin again in may 2007. with them, it'll be about hunting for the best musical experience, best makan + hunt for the cun-nest materials for baju. anyone wants to come with us, ajakan secara serious.

this trip i plan to hunt for kain limar since malaysia don't produce kain limar anymore. berangan nak buat baju riau pahang. phewwit!

p.s.

i forgot, i got tagged by nina ... 6 things wierd about me:

1. i eat my McD fries with ice cream.

2. i write with the margin parallel to me.

3. i remember faces extremely well, i need to meet a person only once + i'll remember their face for life but i'm crap with names. i met my schoolmate's hubby for the first time recently. i remember his face from kindergarten, i even remember his backpack + where he sat in class + that he sang nasyid at the school concert.

4. i can answer a phonecall when i'm sleeping + strike a conversation + not remember it the next morning.

5. when i'm at a counter in a bank or a shop, i have this compulsive urge to tidy the counter up if things are not in place.

6. i sometimes wave at a cat if i see them staring in my direction.

anyways, 'freak' by silverchair

grunge revival ... keluarkan your dr martens everyone. :op

Saturday, March 03, 2007

life in cartoon motion



my dad + his school friends meet up weekly for a game of bowling at bsc bowling alley. mom's a good bowler (she's way better than dad), so dad would make her be on his team. i'd tag along sometimes for the bihun cantonese they serve, sedap gegila ok! when i'm around, dad would wear this mischievous smile, i reckon bekos when they compare individual scores, i'd always be on the tail end, instead of him. so yeah ... my pleasure, bapak!

recently, some young bowlers sarcastically commented, “kubur dah kata mari, tak reti-reti pergi surau ke?”.

wow! talking about being rude and arrogant. perhaps, they forgot that they’d grow old too.

come on, the group would usually start bowling at 9 pm + they do berjemaah isya' before the game. what's the difference between praying in the surau near your house + a surau in bsc? we don't have any problem with our parents having some fun + socialising, why should you?

and don't you dare throw any remarks if you happen to bump into my mom + her school friends doing the midnight movies.

shooh! shooh! mind your own parents.

anyways, a recent family affair







erk! and i've been tagged by nina ...6 things wierd about me? errr ... up next.

for now, i leave you with 'grace kelly' by mika

Thursday, March 01, 2007

muse-ing

he was at muse

she was at muse

i wasn't

they brought the house down

he brought the car down


baz luhrmann said 'don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours', then again, he reminded to 'be careful whose advice you buy ... advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth'.

have a good day, all!