Oi, respect lah!

Hell, here I am again, writing from this frigid library of my beloved university. Well, today I only have class in the morning which is the Lembaga Akreditasi Nasional (LAN)'s Malaysian Studies class. Malaysian Studies.. that sounds familliar, what is it about again? Oh, yeah.. Sejarah Tingkatan 4. Oh bugger.

Well folks, that's reality. I had to resit the whole F4 sylabus all over again in English and 3 month instead of the whole year not to mention in 5 weeks we need to do a role play (read: act) on one of Malaysia's festivals with our group. I choose Hari Raya Puasa. Well, I did question why the hell do I need to do this class since I did get an A for Sejarah in SPM. Do they want us to be an unpaid tutor to the foreign students or what? Damn stupid la this government. Waste my time also.. What to do, people'll still vote them again anyway.

Nevertheless, I can see the attitude this foreigners have towards the class. Yes, it might be a nuisance for you as it is a nuisance to me but hey, since you came to my country you might as well learn something about it, not make fun about it. I don't make fun of your country, and if I did it's somewhere private but never in front of the people of that country so why can't you? We all know that Bali is a beautiful island, but you have to accept that there's also beautiful islands here in Malaysia.

Well, no wonder the whole world is at war right now. People seems to not care about each other anymore. Respect is everything folks..

Labels: thoughts

Tint My Ride.. which ride?

I stumbled upon this ad banner yesterday in Rawang town. It's from a film tint shop that advertises the advantages of tinting your car which makes it cool against not tinting it which makes it hot as in the oven.

So what's the big deal about it? Well, take a look at the cars in the ad, the oven car is a Proton Waja while the cool, tinted and happy car is a Honda Jazz. That's the thing that caught my attention. Why is it that it's the local car that is the bad one and an imported Japanese car is the protagonist of this advertisement?

Well, with the little advertising knowledge I gained last semester, I guess all this have something to do with target audience. Perhaps this Air Cool company is expecting people in imported cars to be the ones that'll tint their cars compared to the poor old bloke driving a Proton. Is it? Well, as I've observed throughout my life, I find that it is the blokes in Protons are keener to tint their cars. You know, those people who trully believes their Wira is an Evo III type of guy.. So I guess in my opinion this advertisement is not quite as efective as it could be.

So how would it be effective? Change the cars. Turn it around and make the Jazz car sans tint while the Proton car tinted and put this as a tag line: An expensive car is useless without AirCool. That'll be kick ass.

Labels: advertisement, opinion

What does being a fan means?

He put the ball on the pitch, step back a few step and he kicks the ball and away that ball went.. away, away and away.. into the keeper's clutches. Bolehland lost again...

Well, I haven't watched any football match for a long time and perhaps the last football match I went to was the one we had in MCKK two years ago. Man, I miss those days when we would stand by the field in our shirts and our banner flying high fluttered by the Kuala Kangsar wind. I can't quite understand that feeling actually being that I'm not quite your average footie fan; I am a kaki bangku who never gives a damn about the beautiful game.. but hey, if it's MCKK I swear I'm their number one fan.

I believe all Budak Koleq have had their share of tears at least once when College lost a match or faces a tough adversary, I know I did a couple of times.. especially during my later days of College life. I remember hiding my face behind the Sulaiman House flag during a footie match so my juniors behind me wouldn't see me and of course during the Vaji match.. I cried throught the entire lenght of the College anthem. Haziq would've remembered that. Well, I came to believe that if you can shed tears for a team during a match, you really are a die hard fan. I don't know about you, but that's what my take is on that matter.

So did I let my tears flow for Malaysia? No, but perhaps someday I will. Thinking about it I can't help but remember Chye's famous quote (which he quoted from someone else)..

What does being a fan means?
It means you'll never walk alone.

And they flew...

Well, Petronas finally made up their mind. Cepe contacted on Flickr confirming on his flight date as well as Lemi and Mikel's.

Lemi - 6th February (Tuesday). Canberra
Cepe - 9th February (Friday). Sydney
Mikel - 14th February (Sunday). Perth

Cepe mentioned that his flight will be at 10.40PM while I'll be getting confirmations on Lemi and Mikel's. Come on guys, lets all go to KLIA and give them a memorable farewell.

Give me a ring folks, in case I might be able to pick you up. I'll try not to miss this one.

It's just like your highways..

It's great to note that MMU Cyberjaya present their Khutbah Jumaat in both Malay and English language since the high number of foreign students there as well as surrounding universities. Well, today's khutbah was different from the rest of Selangor since MMU compose their own text which is a wonder since the government condemned several Pa' Imams for making their own khutbah several years ago. Nevertheless, they talked about the strenghts of Islam compared to the now popular weaknesses of Islam debate I often stumble on the web. Well, overall I can say that the khutbah was mediocrely presented and the content is not very solid as with the evidence. No, I'm not saying that what Pa' Khatib tuh said about Islam is wrong, no. What I mean was that the way he peresented his arguements is weak in my opinion since it is mostly derived from emotions and it lacks the flow I usually enjoy when listening to ceramahs and such (I do folks, believe me).

Well, the mosque itself is something that I would want to comment on. It is actually a surau that is used during Fridays for the prayers much like Bandar Country Homes Rawang before the new mosque opens. Sorry I didn't take pictures of the area but I kindof scared at the stares I get when I turn on the phone's camera. Anyway, lets imagine a triangular shaped mosque. Now, who would make a triangular shaped mosque? It's not very practical in terms of space usage isnt it? Well, tell that to MMU. Nevertheless, Cyberview needs to be do something on that too. Why don't they have a mosque in Cyberjaya? You got 3 universities, a lot offices buildings, several townships and a friggin' lake with a clubhouse not to mention 10 lanes highways but no mosque? What do you think of us?

I think Cyberview really need to be less like their highways; 5 lanes on both sides but all are hardly ever used..

Brave New World

Burp.. sedapnye makan jagung! Haha.. I'm at Rawang now, just came back from Cyberjaya since I ain't have any class today. Well.. this morning I was actually walking towards the bus stop to get the college to hang out with some friends and use the free Wi-Fi there but there were just too many people at the bus stop and all are killing each other to get onto the 428 bus. So, I decided to take the 429 bus instead to Putrajaya and have breakfast there..

Well, to make matter short, I end up on the E1 bus headed to KL Sentral and arrived there at 10 o'clock. I had breakfast at McDonald's and then I went to Kinokuniya in KLCC. I bought a new book, Huxley's Brave New World which is sortof like Orwell's 1984. The difference between the two books in the author's idea of what are the things that'll cause a dystopian future. Orwell believe that it is what we fear that'll destroy us while Huxley stated that it is the things we love that'll cause our demise (Postman N. 1986). No idea what I'm talking about? Get off that couch then, and grab a copy and read it!

Anyway, I'm not really thinking of reading serious books just yet; I haven't finished reading The Catcher in The Rye. I was sort of thinking of Mark Haddon's A Spot of Bother or Mitch Albom's new book which I can't remember the title. Anyway, since this fella haven't come out with a paperback yet I think I'll just have to stick with a Huxley's 75 years old book..

Read up folks, after all this is a brave new world isn't it?

Lasses Lasses Lasses

'tis really nice t' 'ave lasses fer scallywags. Har har! I jus' realized that today as I sat in Naomi's Punto on our way t' college. I didn' ask fer th' ride, she offered me so why th' Davy Jones' locker nah? Well, don't blame me scallywags, I spent 5 years o' me life seein' balls in MCKK 'n afore that I was a shy sprog livin' his primary school life wit' books. I hardly knew any poppet in fact. O' course, thar's Neet but she's special. Th' lasses I be natterin' about here be lasses as jus' scallywags or platonic scallywags whatever ye like t' call it. Well, I admit I still do 'ave that 18 years ole shyness in me but I be tryin' t' kick it out.. slowly but surely as Alepadha would put it.
Thanks lasses!

The words you've just read above is my previous posting translated into Pirate-esse. Haha, it really reminds me of Captain Jack Sparrow. I stumbled upon this website a few months ago and over time I forgot about it. Anyway, to those on Mac you can go the the site and download the Pirate Translator Dashboard widget while you folks on Windows XP can translate your words from the site itself. Go ahead 'n give it a try. Savvy?

Labels: fun stuffs, internet

Girls Girls Girls

It's really nice to have girls for friends. Haha! I just realized that today as I sat in Naomi's Punto on our way to college. I didn't ask for the ride, she offered me so why the hell not? Well, don't blame me people, I spent 5 years of my life seeing balls in MCKK and before that I was a shy kid living his primary school life with books. I hardly knew any girl in fact. Of course, there's Neet but she's special. The girls I'm talking about here is girls as just friends or platonic friends whatever you like to call it. Well, I admit I still do have that 18 years old shyness in me but I'm trying to kick it out.. slowly but surely as Alepadha would put it.

Thanks girls!

No, I'm not from FELDA

Well, I'm at the library right now. My class is actually at 2 o'clock but I arrived here at 8 in the morning. How's that for enthusiasm? Haha.

Anyway, just now as I was entering this library the librarian asked for my Student Card. Recognizing it as a new procedure, I happily handed it to him and we had this conversation:

Librarian: Ni dari mana?

Me: Dari mana as in?

Librarian: You la dari mana. You FELDA ka?

Me: Nope! (Whata Fuck!?)

Well, Limkokwing is actually doing a Pro Bono work for FELDA where they take FELDA kids and give them a free education here. Before you start to think that they are doing a noble job, let me tell you this: They get tax break for doing this, just like you do charities la. Anyway, before this all the FELDA people have their classes at the PJ campus so we hardly get to see them here in Cyberjaya. But this semester, that old guy decided to close down the PJ campus so alll the FELDA guys are relocated here with us.

I'm not trying to be racist here, I can't be racist.. they are all Malays but I do have a little bit of elitist feeling brewing in me. With the FELDA people around here, all Malays are suddenly associated with them. Everywhere I go people would ask me the "Are you from FELDA" question. Heck, even the cabbie I took yesterday asked me that question. Fuck you all. I pay RM 10,000 per semester to study here. That's around RM 3,000 per month or a hundred bucks a day. Don't call me a FELDA guy, that really hurts my feeling..

Phew.. wow, that last paragraph was fun. Haha.. I felt much better already. Well, at least until the next time someone ask me that question again. FELDA guys, if you happen to be reading this, I hope you people use the opportunity given to you fully. Don't do stupid stuffs like merempit in front of this college. We carry the Malay race's dignity on our shoulder.. Let's kill the Melayu Kampung prejudice okay? It's time to move on people..

No, I'm not from FELDA. Thanks for asking.

MCKK on the news

Well, I'm in the library right now. It's 4.30 o'clock and though I don't have a class today I still am here to savour the joy of high speed Internet. Haha.. Damn, when will my house have Streamyx? I'm tired la having to come here everyday just to blog.

Anyway, I stumbled upon an article about MCKK on NST yesterday sent by a mother who's son had just registered there and praising about the adminstration's effectiveness in handling the registration process.. Soft news, I know but there's a few things I found funny about the letter. This lady mentioned that her son got 5As in PMR.. How the hell would someone with 5As get into MCKK? Well, She must've mean 8As in PMR kot.. or maybe 5As in UPSR.

The next thing is when she praises the current HM, Rauhi Md Isa on handling the whole thing. Now lady, let me tell you this: He doesn't do anything. If you want to praise someone, praise the teachers and praise the students for that matter. They're the one who really did the works. That guy is already full of ego, don't give him another reason to up his ego a few notches more ya? Thanks.

Well, I really wish to write more but lately I've been wondering: Is there anyone out there who read all this words I write or am I just syok sendiri? Heck, I think I can even leave a naked picture of me here for a week and no one will ever see it.

Hurm.. How do you make people read your stuff? I confess that I tried to be political, maybe by being political people would notice my blog but then again, I'm not in the position to write anything political.. and I keep my opinions to myself most of the time.. So that's probably why I tend to write about this things I witness all around me. But hey, I don't think people really care about that right?

Good Morning..

Good morning. I just woke up on a cold Saturday morning.. which kindof reminds me of Kuala Kangsar's morning; each morning is a frigid morning.. oh how I miss frigid mornings.. Anyway, as I was rummaging through Pcha's blog I clicked on one of her many links and stumbled upon this quote from one of her links.

Every song ends, is there any reason not to enjoy the music?

I couldn't help but agree with the quote in every way.. It's so true. I had a very wonderful morning and I hope that quote will lighten up you day as much as it did for me. Oh how wonderful it is that simple words can touch us the way no lover can..

thanks to Abir A. Rahim for the quote

Freedom of Speech my ass..

Cantik.. just nice. Now the whole world know that our Freedom of Justice is a pile of crap. Just nice.. congratulations lah. Aku memang tak tau la nak cakap apa. Sue sue sue.. Happy happy sue.

What's next? Censor the Internet? Perhaps. But didn't they agreed not to do that on the MSC charter. Yes, and they also promised big things for Cyberjaya but hey, I live there. Look at it now, those Arabs and Africans must've felt cheated when the came to this godforsaken land. Hell, the charter is only to atract foreign businesses folks.. You and me have nothing to do with it, our freedom of speech is more of a parole.

"We are not seeking to close them down. At the same time we do not support people making defamatory statements whether online or in print," said the spokesman who cannot be identified under company rules. "We should allow the law to takes its own course."

Ah, fuck la.. Maybe they'll come to sue me next.. Never had I've been so depressed over the Internet before. Just because you all are the oldest press company in Malaysia doesn't mean whatever you say is the truth, it only means that you got corrupted earlier than everyone else.

You guys ruined my night..

Permanent ink.. Permanent prejudice..

Do you watch Miami Ink? I do.. well, not all the timelah but I do enjoy the show. The show is basically about this tattoo parlour in Miami and showcases the tattoo's they do as well as other reality TV stuff.. the fights, the drama and all that. It kind of remind me of American Chopper. Yup, that's it Miami Ink is American Chopper but instead of building bad ass bikes, they etch your skin with permanent ink goodness.

So, what's so great about a story about people and tattoos? Well, tattoos have a bad reputation in most part of the world as well as Malaysia due to its link with the criminal underworld, triad gangs as well as the fact it is haram in Islam. I even saw a police poster telling people to be aware of people with certain criteria and of course tattoo was listed as on of it while in the movie business, the bad guy look is often acheived by putting a scar and a tattoo on the antagonist. So why would Miami Ink be aired, especially on Discovery Travel & Adventure of all channels?

Well, for one I believe the show aims to dispel all this prejudice people have on tattoos and instil a new mindset of the good side of tattoos (there is..). Some might argue what this people are thinking when they get tattoos since it'll last forever. Well, newsflash folks.. these people intent to keep the tatoos forever. Why? Well, as I saw on the show most people who came to the show to make tatoos in rememberance of a dead family member or friend. One girl even did a tattoo made in memory of her dead chinhuahua which all pet owners will know how hard it is to lose a pet. Last night a guy went to get a tattoo of a dragon and a phoenix to symbolize his transformation from being a druggie and homeless into a business person.. Though some might argue, I believe that's a pretty good reason to tattoo yourself.. It's a big acheivement and it's a turning point in his life and he have a right to remember it. It'll also be a reminder to him whenever he had an urge to go back to his old ways.. I was like.. Wow!

We often see tattoo and its artists like Ami and Yoji evil.. but I don't think any man can be all evil as opposed to be all good. There's good and bad in everything and that includes tattoos.

Labels: thoughts, tv

Mysterious and mesmerizing..

I really love to read girls' blog, I really do. I love all those pastel colours they use to highlight important words, the cheery layout, pictures of cuddly animals.. it's all warm and cuddly. If surfing the Internet is like driving to Ipoh on a rainy day, then reading a girl's blog is like stopping at Tapah for a hot cup of teh tarik.

Nevertheless, there's always one thing I notice in most girls' blog is that once in a while they'll post something that at a seems so general yet so full of emotions and yes, most of the time I don't really understood what it's all about. Well, before you get mad all over and call me a sexist let me justify that I'm not writing to belittle women and no, I don't think I'm the best blogger there is. It's nothing like that. It's just that I find it common enough to get me thinking about it while I was watching American Idol just now.

Well, as an average male I think (that's it I think.. it's just an opinion) that maybe girls utilize their blogs as a channel to voice their displease over something personal or about someone close to them but just don't feel right voicing it directly to the subject.Maybe the said culprit would one day stumble upon the post and realize it is them the writer wrote about and apologize.. or maybe it's nothing at all. Maybe it's just me.

Whatever it is, girls can be mysterious as much as they are mesmerizing.. Keep on writing girls!

Labels: opinion, thoughts

Hadi suka fotografi

Wow.. It's hard to start this posting. Writer's block.. Haha. Anyway, I've started another blog as an offshoot of this blog. So, What the heck is it about this time? Well, instead of another site covered with text goodness, my new blog is a photoblog!

A photoblog (or photolog) is a form of photo sharing and publishing in the format of a blog, but differentiated by the predominant use of and focus on photographs rather than text.

Well, it so happened that I was thinking of a better was to utilitize my phone's camera. At first I thought of posting all my photos here in this blog but after a few tries, it sort of look too crowded and colourful for my liking. Thus, the photoblog is born!

I linked the blog with my Flickr page so I could just post my entries directly from Flickr and most pictures I'll be blogging about will be available on my Flickr page. Anyway, most pictures will be from my phone's camera so you know how the quality is like.. Well, I don't really mind, as a friend of mine puts it, "Walaupun kamera aku tak power, janji aku reti guna buat macam-macam".

Anyway, this effort is still in Beta so expect many inconsistencies and all sorts of other things that came with the word Beta.. Fret not, I'll be doing a lot of code reading today and hope that it'll be out of Beta by next week. You can navigate to the site via the new "Photoblog" link on the top navigation bar up there or just click here.

Support this effort!

Of being in a crowd yet alone..

This is a scene of a Komuter ride and it begins in Shah Alam. Well, I haven't been on a train for a long while. I usually drive nowadays and it completely drowned my interest to walk and stand around just to get to somewhere. But then again, I guess I really miss the train ride.

As I waited for the train, I noticed that people'll do anything to entertain themselves as they waited for the train. I saw a guy listening to his handphone ringtone to keep himself preoccupied.. which would be a normal sight if not for the fact that his ringtones are monotonic. Further away, another man is killing time with puffs of cigarette while another was talking to a faraway friend on her handphone. Me? I plugged in my phone's measly 10 MP3s, observe and I write all this during the ride home. Everyone is doing something other than talking to each other. It is as if we are all alone eventhough we are not.. there is a crowd.

The train eventually stopped at the platform and I boarded it and sat on the sit nearest to the door. I've always love this seat.. It's just like your favourite sink at the school cafetaria and your favourite toilet cubicle. Anyway, the scene inside the train was just the same as it was on the platform: there is a crowd but everybody is alone. The Indian man across me stared at the mirror as if to catch a glimpse of his faraway home while the fella on the other end of the cabin is talking loudly on the phone as if he is alone. No one hardly talked and everyone has that sad, sorry and tired look on their face. There is a crowd but everyone is alone and sad.

I guess everyone just can't wait to get home.. maybe that is everything on their mind ofter a long day of work and the hectic life of the capital, managing the companies' capital or even making their own capital one way or the other.. Though I don't fit any of the desciption, trying to enjoy my 10 song tracks which had looped 4 times makes me their equal I guess.

This is a scene of a Komuter ride and it ends in Rawang. There is a crowd, there's you and me but we are all alone and sad. We just couldn't wait to get home...

Labels: opinion

I've made my choices..

Let's see.. Damn, I really have a lot to write.. but where to start? Well, I just came back to Rawang from Cyberjaya. It turned out my classes won't start till next week so instead of killing myself with boredom there I might as well return home to mum's cooking.

Anyway, yesterday I register myself at the college's Plaza at around 11 o'clock with Mak. I'm now in Year 1 Semester 1 of the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication program, a course under Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia (not Ostrolia) and before this I was doing the Foundation in Communication course. Well, both courses require a great deal of reading as well as the ability to apply what is thought in the lectures into real life, but you know that already don't you? Haha..

For this semester I had to chose two out of five streams of Mass Communication which is Film & Television, Journalism, Public Relations, Advertising & Marketing and Creative Multimedia. I really don't dig PR, not my cup of tea actually so I had to make a 50/50 decision: which two should I take and which two should I ditch... You want to know what I took? Film & Television and Journalism.

Well, I really want to learn broadcasting and all. Actually my first love in Art is Photography and Desktop Publishing came right after so I guess I would really like to open up my hear to Video which I know very little of.. Damn, I'm curious! On the other hand I really really love to write and this blog you're reading is an example of that passion. At the end of the day, I guess my choice really fits me well; what better way there is if not to mix you curiousity of something with your passion for another right? Well, I guess only time will tell..

Well, I've made my choices. How about you?

Labels: personal, studies

Somebody didn't pay attention during English class..

I was just watching National Geographic Channel when I stumbled upon this situation. The narator was saying "at the eleventh hour..".. guess what the subtitle was. Yes, you got that right, "pada jam sebelas.."

eleventh |iˈlevənθ|
ordinal number
constituting number eleven in a sequence; 11th : the eleventh century | February the eleventh | the eleventh fairway of a tiny golf course.
• ( an eleventh/one eleventh) each of eleven equal parts into which something is or may be divided.
• the eleventh grade of a school.
• Music an interval or chord spanning an octave plus a fourth in the diatonic scale, or a note separated from another by this interval.

PHRASES the eleventh hour | the latest possible moment : he refused to take a public stand until the eleventh hour of the campaign.

Somebody really need to check out our subtitle writers...

Source: (2005) Dictionary (Version 1.0.1) [Computer Software]. Cupertino, CA: Apple Computer Inc.

Hello.. May I speak to Hadi please?

Yeeah! After 3 years of life with my loyal yet dying Nokia 1100, I now am an owner of a shiny new SonyEricsson K610i. I know, you might wanna ask what's the big deal.. but to me it is a big deal. Hey, I'm not one of those guys who uses his phone for a few months and then change to a new model just for style sake. I use a phone until it's dead, stolen or destroyed - whichever come first.

It is also special to me because it was a present for my Foundation Course in Limkokwing result which you can see the detail in my earlier post. I never really like to ask for presents for no apparent reason and in my family, a birthday is not a solid enough reason to get yourself a new phone. A card? Yes. A diner? Of course. A phone? Nanti tengok result macam mana. Haha..

Anyway, I'm kind of sad to let go the old Nokia which I bought apart from the fact that it's cheap and the keypad is damn nice, but also because of the number (wink wink).. it had been my companion through thick and thin, it had been inside Cikgu Samsudin's drawer for 3 months, it had helped us call Atan for a scrumptious supper back in MCKK and it's also the phone that brought me together with Neet.. and I don't care if you don't want to believe it, for it is true. It's funny how nostalgic a phone can be and how it can have emotional ties with us.. its mind boggling.

Anyway, life is about takin a step forward.. so I guess it was time to move on to the age of 3G and other wierd acronyms. Goodbye to my Nokia and welcome to my Sony Ericsson.

Well, if it's are good enough to be in a James Bond movie, then I guess it'll be good enough for me.

Oh Pasar Malam..

Today is Sunday and here in the wonderful town of mine, today is Pasar Malam day. Pasar Malam, a once in a week affair that stages a part of Malaysiana no tourism advertisment can ever get right. You have to be there to fully grasp it and who can deny that fact? It's here where you can fight variety of food in epic proportion, even some which you had never seen before. It's where you can see true multicultural-ness of the country with all sort of etnic groups brushing shoulders against another etnic group. If this are to happen anywhere else, expect some bloodshed to follow.

Nevertheless, cultural harmony aside.. Pasar Malam can be a great place to see Malaysian's attitude at their worse. You get to see them selfishly batter through other people through the narrow alleys, you get to see irresponsible parents who don't give a damn about their kids running around bocking other people's way, you get to see Malaysin drivers park their car heedlessly without a single thought of other people as well as rude drivers who cilok other people's parking though the other guy already gave signal to go into that spot.. it's almost to the level of frustration if you ask me.

When people say you can get everything at Pasar Malam, they really mean it I guess..

Looking for a way to pass the time?

Head on to Mark Hoppus' website then! You know.. Mark Hoppus, Blink 182 bassist? Now in +44? Hello.. doesn't ring any bell? God, where have you been all these years! You really ought to get of them Puddycat Dolls for once dude, this is a real musician here.

Well, to those who know Mark Hoppus and enjoy his music as much as me and my dear buddy Alepadha, this website needs no introduction. Apart from the funky, bubbly, childishlike page design, you can download his podcast!

Urm.. Hadi, podcast? Err.. podcast tuh ape? Care to elaborate..?

But of course! So you've never heard of podcast before right? But I bet you are very familiar with the term 'Radio', so basically podcasts are radio shows which you can download and listen on you computer and store it. It's not like those internet radios which stream their content, podcast is like downloading mp3s. Got it? If you still have problem understanding, just imagine an mp3 file, but instead of a song, it's a talk show. I admit, I have a problem explaining stuffs.. bear with me folks.

Mark's podcast basically revolves around his interviews with other bands as well as their songs and other stories related to his tours with his band, +44. It's nice to hear your favourite musician speak things other than the lyric of his hit songs and edited MTV interviews. This is him in his own self and words. What could be cooler?

Go ahead and give it a try, then come back here and leave a comment on what you think.. Or even bash me if I'm wrong. Have a nice day folks!

Labels: music

Don't point yer finger at me!

I read The Star newspaper this morning and stumbled apon an article entitled interestingly enough "Police often come under fire".. Well, I had to admit, it's a fine headline and my mind starts to wonder what it is about so I glanced at the subheadline, "Mohd Johari: Local authorities at fault too". Owh.. It's that blaming game again.


It seems that it is now a popular thing to blame other people here in Malaysia. First it was them politicians blaming women's dressing that caused them to be raped, women then blame men for not being able to constrain their sexual fiends and suggest them to be kasi-ed, then they went further and blamed a bunch of clouds for the flood and did you know what the cloud replied? It gives them yet another flood.

Well, I'm not saying that, "Hey, I agree with you cops". No, I don't agree but I don't see why you need to go to the presses just to blame other people. I admit some local authorities are not really doing their job and spend our money attending a 'seminar' at some uphill resort, but blaming people like that wouldn't make things any merrier. Imagine what the local authorities would say then? "We did our job, it's the police to blame". Yeeha!

So what should be the right thing to say then? Let's see.. how about, "Police admit lacks" and the subline would be "Local authorities and Police must work together". Wouldn't that be nice? In fact, kick out the headline altogether and make the subline as a headline, "Local authorities and Police must work together". Now, that's greatness.

Labels: Malaysia, opinion, politics, social

Today's lesson is..

Don't make promises unless you really know you can fulfil it. It's better to tell a sad truth to someone rather than make up a lie because the disappointment of hearing the awful truth is much better than a lie gone wrong. Damn.. all of these are common sense right? I wonder why I had to go through all this to understand that..

It's in the details...

Looking at the many smudge covered buildings around Rawang today reminds me of what Farigh, my Maldivian friend once said, "You know what makes a city great Hadi? It's the details.. the small details" and yes, I agree.

Oh well now then, Mardy Bum..

...
I see your frown
And it's like looking down the barrel of a gun
And it goes off
And out come all these words
Oh there's a very pleasant side to you
A side I much prefer
It's one that laughs and jokes around
Remember cuddles in the kitchen
Yeah, to get things off the ground
And it was up, up and away
Oh, but it's right hard to remember
That on a day like today when you're all argumentative
And you've got the face on
Well now then Mardy Bum
Oh I'm in trouble again, aren't I?
I thought as much
Cause you turned over there
Pulling that silent disappointment face
The one that I can't bear
...

Neet, that's pretty much sums up what I'm feeling right now...

(words and lyrics from Mardy Bum by Artic Monkeys)

Yeah, blame the tube..

Don't you just love TV? I myself enjoy most of my moments with it especially since I learn a helluva lot of stuff from a lifeless electron tube. No, I don't just mean on Discovery Channel.. I mean TV as a whole, its programmes and movies and all. It teaches you about life, or show you an example on how life is depending on how you prefer it to sound. I admit I know much about how to be with a girl from TV. Don't blame me, I went to an all boys school and enjoyed the best years of my life.

Well, long story short.. I feel stupid believing that if you suprise someone by meeting them without prior notice to reconcile a fight, that other person will appreciate what you did and put away any other things they're doing to be with you. It didn't happen and at the end you got blamed for spoiling her plan with her friends.

Well, I guess that only works in the tube..

New Template

In case any of you noticed, I've set a new template for my journal courtesy of Phu Ly titled Emire though I've edited a few parts to better suit my preference. I don't actually have a problem with the old one but I really like Emire's subtle colours and typesetting. I know, I know.. The blog is called Pelangi Hitam Putih but the colour scheme is green. I noticed that. Well, as Kermit the Frog laments, "It's not easy being green", I really am giving it a thought to change the green header with something more personal.

Check back later to see the result. Thanks!

Update: Done! Hope you guys like the new header :)

Can you do me a favour?

Urmm.. just to add folks, since saya budak baru belajar I would really appreciate it if you point out any linguisic errors (which I didn't do on purpose) be it grammatical or innapproriate usage of words. Thanks!

Result sudah mari..

Just checked the mail and guess what the mailman brought today: my last semester result. I was expecting it weeks ago but hey, better late than never aite? (cliché folks..) So how well did I fare on the last semseter? 3.53.. Yup, three point five three. And how was the semester before? 3.67. Bummer!

Well, some might argue that 3.53 is good. Yes, I agree and it is just above my 3.50 target, but is that enough to be satisfied with? No, I'm not. How come it went from 3.67 to 3.53? Lets see:

Design Study: B- (3.00)
What can I say about this module? Well, I was too overconfident and I did underestimate the module. and my work wasn't really something to be proud of anyway. So, there goes one mistake: Ego.

Media Appreciation: A- (4.00)
This module basically is about the understanding of how the media works and how it came to be; its history. Well, this one I'm proud of because I admit I don't really enjoy the course but hey, I didn't cheat the exam (I don't know if anyone did, but I didn't) and though I don't remember everything, I tried to explain it with what I know. There's no space for rote studying in University right? Honesty and Self-believe.. add that to the winning formula.

Business Communication: B (3.33)
Business Communication teaches you on how paperork processes work in the office. I learnt how to make a press release, memorandums, newsletter and other in between. So why I didn't get an A? Well, again I didn't really enjoy the class and lack attention once in a while. Not to mention those few days which I ditched classes. So the lesson here is pay attention.

Professional Writing: B (3.33)
Professional Writing throw everything you've learnt in Sekolah Menegah into the bin. Did you know the format schools are teaching is no longer the current standard? Well, did you also know that those bombastic words school teachers encourage you to use in essays is mostly cliché? Do ou know what cliché is? How about redundancy? Haha.. Welcome to Professional Writing where less is more. I enjoy this class so much and Rose Chin reminds me of Miss Sherry. So what went wrong? Lack practice and I must admit, I'm still having problems with a common Malaysians error: The Subject-Verb Agreement. So you wonder why I have this blog? To practice.

Introduction to Advertising: A (4.00)
I love advertising class and I like Mr. Helmi's stories! Haha.. I must admit I am really fascinated by advertising and it helped me to more understand media that's being fed to me everyday. Curiosity might kill the cat, but it does wonder to human.

So there goes my brief analysis. Thanks to all that believe in me and to the sceptics and people who shun me for taking this course, think again. I'll be doing Broadcasting, Film and Television next week so wish me luck ya?

Lawak kampung and lawak bandar?

I was watching "Sensasi" last night with me family. The guess this time around is Afdlin Shauki and Razak Mohaideen to discuss the topic of lawak kampung and lawak bandar. Now, that's interesting. What's the difference between lawak kampung and lawak bandar.. I don't get it. Is it Razak's movies are lawak kampung because it's in Penang and Afdlin's setting is KL? Nope.. Penang is a city in its own right. Or.. is it because Razak's stories involve family affair and Afdlin's is mostly kisah bujang.. Tak jugak, it would've been lawak bekeluarga and lawak persendirian.. and what's so kampung about family anyway?

What do you think?

iPhone

Well, yesterday it was one of the most hyped about vaporware and today, it's real! Haha.. never had I been so relieved in my life to see the launching of a product. Anyway, its not yet available for the public though with American to get their hands on it on the next half of this year. Asians? 2008. Well, what do you expect.. it's not like it's from Toshiba or something.

I am currently looking for a phone to replace my aging Nokia 1100 (yup folks.. pity me) so the release of iPhone is of course a good news. Nevertheless, although the features might be mind boggling and kick Dopod and Blackberry's arse, it still is too much for me. It's a smartphone and I don't NEED a smart phone (though I do WANT one). Well, fret not. If this Apple is the Apple that I've come to know then there's going to be a mid entry model coming up. iPhone nano anyone? And oh, it better not be iPhone shuffle, I don't want my smses to my girl being shuffle-sent to my mom.

Anyway, Steve Jobs, Johnathan Ive and all the Cupertino folks, congrats!

Update: Click here for more pictures.

On the recent toll hike

I read Nik Nazmi's blog today and his latest post was on the recent toll hike (thanks alot Samy Vellu, I really appreciate it) and how we the people are treated unjustly by the capitalist corporations in an agreement signed by our own representatives.

I for one doesn't agree with the word Indonesian use for government, Pemerintah and even our word Kerajaan.. it makes me feel lowly and on the other hand makes me feel that they are so much better than me. So what word do I prefer? Well, try 'Wakil Rakyat' and 'Civil Servant'.. now doesn't that sound nicer? It also have a little more weight on responsibilty with the word Civil and Rakyat. Great! That's the word to use.

Who is the Prime Minister and who are the ministers? People, just like you and me. It's just that their work is to serve the Rakyat and making decisions in the interest of the Rakyat above other. They don't work for the country, the country is a piece of land, they work for the Rakyat. Without the Rakyat the land is meaningless. I believe in a hierarchy with the you and me on the top and the Civil Servants at the bottom. They work for us, we pay for them to do their job and we pay to make our life better. Well, at least that's what I believe to be democracy.

As we grow older and wiser it's hard not to agree to the fact that that is not how democracy work here and all of that was just textbook bullshit. It feels more like we are in fact slaves instead of Rakyat and every five years we elect an Overlord to enslave us. It's like that everywhere. We don't have a say in anything.. it is what they say that matters. You can go and protest by the thousands to not increase the toll and nothing would happen but when just one of the Overlords open his mouth and say "Tol Naik!"... it will be so. Yes of course the slaves will continue to protest, but at the end of the day all of it will be forgotten and when you ask people on what do they think of the toll hike, they will answer, "Is it? I thought it was always RM1.60?". It kindof remind me of George Orwell's 1984...

Shh.. do you hear that? Owh.. its just me.

I can't help but notice that this blog has yet to gain much attention compared to my old blog with Friendster. Just look at the comments. Anyway I still am trying very hard to promote this blog as well as my post-MCKK effort on Flickr on every medium I have access to but hey, men can only try and hope. As far as today I'm happy to report that both efforts are getting mediocre attention. Well, what do you expect? It's still new and squeeky clean.

I love reading about people saying how huge the Internet really is because over here it appears to be very quiet indeed.. maybe I'm in the wrong neighbourhood. Oh well...

Bangkit laa! Sampai bila nak tidur?

Around KL

I just got back, again from our beloved capital city to meet my friend who is in search of a laptop. It would’ve been easy since my dear friend told me that he’s going for a Mac but put mama and papa in the equation, it went complicated. Instantly I understood why the reason I was needed there; to convince them parents to buy a Mac for their kid. I must admit, its hard to convince people especially when they already have a candidate in mind. After looking at a pristine new MacBook at the Apple Store, they took me to look at some Toshibas which I admit to be a well built notebook but hey, the kid want a Mac so get one and make my life easy! So after the Toshiba, we also browse the excessively-expensive-yet-underpowered Sony Viaos (sorry to all those who use Viao, but hey.. its a fact), them expensive and powerful Fujitsus and even some BenQs with me explaining the benefits of Macs over all the competitors at every turn. It’s a hard thing to explain these stuffs actually especially when explaining that anti-virus software are not necessary but I don’t blame them though since we live in a world where the word computer and virus usually coexist in a sentence. So after long last, the family agreed to get a Mac... but not today! It turned out all this was just a window shopping with the real purchase to be done on Tuesday.. Ho hum...

Later I went pusing-pusing in KL. You’ve got to see the cars parked along Jalan Tun Razak, it was crazy! People seems to park their car heedlessly as they scramble to hop a ride on the ferris wheel and the concert later that night. Now, its a known fact that the attraction is going to be there throughout the year so why are this people, most of them with kids still hurdle themselves against the sea of people just to watch KL 60 feet higher? Well.. I guess its the kids kot. Well, I admit I too am intrigued at the wheels. I was at Tasek Titiwangsa on the 5th and took some photos of the wheels but put a sea of people in front of me, with kids and lots of kids, not to mention RM15 for the ride plus the hours in line.. maybe next time, waktu budak-budak kat sekolah and mama and papa are at work.

Since Neet’s college on Jalan Semarak was near the Titiwangsa, I managed to get a glimpse of the light show and the fireworks while I was there. It must’ve been hell for those rich people who live there while the park’s speakers are pumping My Heart’s songs all night long. Nightmare! (sorry but I still think that Ada Apa Dengan Cinta kick My Heart’s balls a few times). If the college a Kilometer away can hear the song, imagine what the folks along the park are enduring. It’s nice though, with all the search lights and lasers but I have some problems with the fireworks. To me, fireworks are climax stuffs which is only launched during a climax. But the folks at the park are firing hundreds of taxpayers money every 5 minutes for god sake! It spoils the kick-ass-ness of the fireworks not to mention membazir. But then again, that might just be me... the folks at the concert sounded like they are enjoying every moment of it. Oh well..

Labels: nerdery, thoughts, travel

I What?

I guess by the this things goes online, most of us Malaysians would've seen this ad, be it on TV, at the movies or on print. So what's the big deal about this ad?

Well, I've been thinking about it since the first time I saw the ad (or so I think..) but it wasn't until Kimal pointed it out last week that urged me to write something about it. When you look at the ad, what do you see? How do you read the text? Well, most people I ask answered this, "I love Music". You did the same too didn't you? But did you asked yourself, why did you interpret the Sony Ericsson (SE) logo as to mean love? Why not other things... why not hate, why not eat why not stop? Why love?

Well, I guess it had something to do with human perception.. red is for danger, green is Islamic, a cross is always Cristian, a red lightsaber is Sith. On the advertising side, SE is definately going for a campaign to boost its brand presence and awareness because as I see it, the whole campaign is not just to promote one product, but the whole range. Now, this may sounds trivial but the truth is, this campaign could really have a strong sentiment on our psyche. By having the impression that the wording read as "I love music", it creates an imprint on our mind and with enough repetation of the ad it trained the mind to associate the SE logo as to mean love.

To create emotion ties with a product is always a good move and it also work for things other than products. Conflicts for example, some people just don't give a damn about a conflict in faraway Africa so to gain public awareness, they put in a human drama in it say, a mother who lost her baby, a picture of people crying on top of their demolished houses and bingo, you got people's attention. The same goes to products and this is probably the way SE is taking its brand.

And oh, SonyEricsson is a little bit late don't you think? Nokia beat them years ago when they came out with their Connecting People and The Human Technology tagline .

Labels: media, thoughts

Of Souvenirs and Sharing..

Well... souvenirs. Everyone love to get souvenirs especially when the giver is someone they love or well, like. But the truth is, we don’t usually get what we wanted right?

Once I had a friend who went for vacation in a country outside of Malaysia and he told me that he would be getting me something when he came back. God, was I happy that day! I waited and waited and waited for him to return and as days pass by, my anticipation and imagination grew. I was imagining wild things from him up to the point when I think about it now seems ridiculous. Then one day he came back and gave me a souvenir: a keychain. I figgin’ piece of keychain that he must’ve possibly bought at the airport on his way back. And I was of course devastated.

But that was years ago, when I myself haven’t been anywhere other that the states of the Malayan Peninsula. My first trip to other people’s land is to Mecca in 2000 followed by the college trip to Bangkok 4 years later. It wasn’t until my recent journeys to Jakarta that made me realize the harsh reality of it: buying souvenirs for people back home. To me, I don’t like to consider myself as a tourist, I want to be a traveller. I don’t know why but it seems quite natural to me that every time I go places, I tend to assimilate myself with the people around me, their language, their food, their norms. It feels very nice to be able to act like one of the locals and that is what I look most in traveling.

Honestly, thorough my trips I haven’t shopped much even for myself though I crave most of the stuffs I saw in Bangkok’s Chatuchak and Lumpini but was too broke to splurge. In Jakarta it turned out to be a ladies shopping haven with tudungs costing RM 5 on the average while Bandung played fair if you know where to look. So imagine, me having a hard time looking for stuffs for myself and imagine the thought of souvenirs on top of that. I did.. and flunked both. Thus at the end, I went back into Malaysia with roughly the same stuff I brought with me.

I like to take photos, I really do. Though I initially snap stuffs for my own personal satisfaction but upon seeing the look in people’s faces when they join me and look at the photos I took it made me realize that photos can be a very good souvenir as well, perhaps even better than physical materials even! It’s nice to share those moments with your pals and telling them the story behind every snap which is something you can’t do with a keychain. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the keychain but this is the thing that works for me.

Sharing.. now I knew I should’ve watched Bear in The Big Blue House more often...

Labels: opinion, personal

Yes yes.. I know

Hell.. I've been talking about moving to Google for over a year now and it still failed to materialize. At first, its because I thought it might be hard for people who are accustomed to my Friendster's blog to join this migration with me. You know, since to most people, Friendster is about the only website that they visit eveytime they are online and the fact that its easy to find out if there's an update to my blog and such... Heck, I don't give a damn anymore. If people want to read, read. If they don't, its their choice. I got tired with Friendster's cheesy ads.. I couldn't stand it. Honest!

Anyway, as I am writing this entry I am using the browser Camino which is a variation of the Firefox browser that had been tailored to suit the Macintosh environment. I must say they have done a good job with the GUI and on the experience as a whole but then again, I notice there's some problem with its ability to display text so I decided to continue writing this entry in TextEdit (something like Notepad).

Hurm, talking about browsers.. Well, I believe most of you couldn't care less which browser you use as long as it gets you where you wanted right? Well, I used to be the same too. I honestly believe that Internet Explorer was the bomb! I know, I know, but hey, I'm still young at that time and I was very clueless on the flaws of IE not to mention the 'Browser War' that was going on then. I did notice however those small buttons with 'Best viewed in IE' and 'Best viewed in Netscape' but I was happy enough to not try use Netscape. But then again, looking at that era apart from IE and Netscape, there was nothing else so I guess that too played a significant factor.

Then all of the sudden, came a browser called Mozilla Firebird and I tried it out of curiosity and got hooked! Can you imagine? Tabbed browsing, a slicker interface, lightweight, no popups.. it was like WOW! Oh yeah, that browser is now called Firefox and currently in its 2nd reincarnation... you guys know that right? Well, for those who haven't I suggest you do. I'm not saying that the latest IE, IE7 is not up to par, but there's something that make Firefox stood higher that the competition (at least in my oppinion), its simplicity.

Browsers worth checking out:
Firefox
Opera
Shiira (Mac)

Labels: internet