Emergency Project curatorial team photo shoot, Tmn Tun Dr Ismail / 24 August 2008

And we'll all float on.
Alright already, we'll all float on.
Alright, don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy.
We'll all float on.

Listening to: Float On by Modest Mouse

Urbanscapes / June 2008

While athletes are competing for gold ornaments to put around their neck (some will settle for less - being at the Olympics is already a victory), anger is growing over the Opening Ceremony. I personally think the gala event was mind blowing - I sat there for 4 hours, cursing because I was blown away by the precision of every Chong, Liew and Seng on stage. Like the moving-type (humans squatting and standing with a box on each head) and martial arts made me go ape shit.

So few days into the Olympics, Chen Qigang, the musical director of the Opening Ceremony, comes out and says the rendition of 'Ode to the Motherland' by Lin Miaoke (dubbed 'the Smiling Angel') was lip-synched. The real singer was this 7 year-old girl who, apparently, wasn't thought to be pretty enough to appear. Qigang assures all parties that it was done out of "national interest".

There was something else about the footprint fireworks. Since it was logistically impossible to film the footprint fireworks making its way to the bird's nest from a helicopter, it was actually digitally enhanced video superimposed onto live footage of the event. Talk about sheer madness and creativity. The organizers even got the weather forecast right to simulate the same smog as on the night and adding camera shake.

!!!

I'm just impressed lah. I'd give them A++ for effort and determination and precision and timing and unlimited supply of man-power.

Listening to: -

Penang / December 2006

I was in Penang last week for work.The last time I was there was at the end of 2006 for a backpacking trip that led us to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Dao. For the entire 30 hours I was there, I thought of the 6.30am ferry ride from Butterworth to George Town, food at the Chinese hawkers' stalls, Edelweiss Cafe for drinks, stopping by 'ais tingkap' after rummaging baskets of books at Chowrasta, the josstick-maker uncle, yellow 'Milan' buses, Rio Hotel's breakfast, Balik Pulau's nutmegs and animated silver-smith uncle and temples and rumah kayu and beautiful colonial buildings.

And and and.

But this time around those sights and sounds were replaced with the flat, grey landscape of Bayan Lepas... the main industrial hub of Penang, home to the Free Trade Zone and 1 million factories. Crazily hot, humid, hazy and on the other side of the island.

Now I've got 2 tips for you if you ever find yourself stuck in Bayan Lepas:

• When in Penang, forget long pants. Skinny jeans, as I found out, aren't made for Penang weather

• When the thought of battling traffic to join civilization in Georgetown is not so appealing, seek refuge at Queensbay Mall. The largest mall up North will cool you down when you're shopping at Gap, Forever 21 and MNG

Listening to: -

Karen Nunis, KL Sing Song 2008 / July 2008

A conversation with a former boss:

birbiru: job hunting where?
myra: i've applied with shell, petronas, pixel, ddb and starcom mediavest
birbiru: pixel??
birbiru: pixel what?
myra: pixel integrated media lah. i saw a job posting today
birbiru: u want to do sales?? u will hate working in pixel

[pause]

birbiru: u r an artist
myra: an artist??! oh lordy, i'm no artist

[pause]

birbiru: u can't do sales, the ppl will drive u nuts :)

[pause]

birbiru: if u r interested in some part time work we have some. u interested?
myra: ok
birbiru: let me see

[pause]

birbiru: why didnt u come to us earlier? not your first choice eh?
myra: ...
birbiru: pixel comes first?????
myra:...
birbiru: bad myra

***

I start work next week.

Listening to: -

Urbanscapes / June 2008

A recent blog entry elsewhere has revealed my first clubbing experience! Aiyerrr...

Thanks, kawan.

According to her cerita, dunno if it's reliable or not, it was in 2002. That must have been my first year in uni. I was only 19. I had made friends with all sorts of people that year including some kaki clubbers. At that time (this is a clear indication of age) Orange was the place lah... the club du jour before the establishment of Novo, Zouk, Heritage Row and most recently Ministry of Sound.

Anyway, some people just get it right the first time around lah... you know, like first day of school was great, first date was memorable, first day at work was a Kodak moment? My 'first clubbing experience' just had to be the opposite lah.

Eyewitness' accounts of the event :

On attire:
"Seorangnya berambut leper belah tengah, dan dua orang lagi berpakaian lengkap seperti mahu ke pasar malam Seksyen 18."

"masa tu dia pakai spek mata steve urkel versi perempuan."

On social skills:
"jln pegang tgn sama-sama"

On looking/acting cool:
"Minuman pilihan malam itu : Orange juice sebab kononnya cool minum orange juice di kelab Orange. Faham? Orange di Orange."

Needless to say, it was quite a sight lah but I vaguely remember that phase and I don't really want to remember it. It wasn't so much about the company or the late nights. I was never interested, you see, but I still went because my friends went (it was much later that I identified this as a form of peer pressure).

Years later, despite a bigger circle of friends, events and really nice clubs (The Argyle, The Ivy, Art House in downtown Sydney), I still have very little interest in clubbing. I've even earned a title: the designated handbag holder. Haha.

I don't know lah.

Clubbing to me is like how you'd ask a botanist to look at a microchip, you know?

Listening to: -

Sydney /June 2008

A typical Thursday night in Sydney:

Bad TV except for Big Brother's Daily Show from 7 - 8 pm. At some point in the night, Cheaters, a cheap reality tv show with detectives exposing cheating spouses and partners, comes on. This is how it usually goes...

Host: Alex, we've got something to show you.
Alex: Okay.

[shows video]

Host: Is that your wife?
Alex: Oh dear Lord, it is. Oh Lord... [shakes head]
Host: Okay, our team knows where they are right now. Are you ready to confront them?
Alex: Yes.

[arrives at the scene. there's confusion with all the lights and camera. the husband (Alex) confronts the wife as she's about to get into her car]

Alex: How could you do this?
Wife: I don't know what you're talking about.
Alex: We're married. Oh Lord...
Wife: I don't know what you're talking about.

[cut to Host who is chasing after the wife's lover. in this case, it's her boss]

Host: Did you know she's married and she has kids?
Boss: No comment.

[Boss escapes by foot]

[cut to husband and wife]

Alex: How could you do this to your kids?
Wife: I don't know what you're talking about.

[wife shuts her car door and leaves]

A (not so) typical Thursday night in the Klang Valley:

Catching The Dark Knight and loving it. Christian Bale, sans the Batman suit and very husky voice, is superbly hot. Heath Ledger's performance as Joker was fucking brilliant. He goes "hee hee haa haa ho ho... why so serious?". I'll watch it again. Oh did anyone follow The Dark Knight's viral marketing strategies? See one out of many here.

Visiting Yuhang's set for his upcoming movie 'At The End of Daybreak', featuring an upcoming Hong Kong actor Chui Tien You. He was last seen in Patrick Tam's award-winning movie 'This After Our Exile'. I've not seen the movie but I've been told that Tien You plays an older version of Aaron Kwok's son. So... in not so many words, Tien You looks like Aaron Kwok lah. Since I don't have a picture of Tien You, I'll use one of Aaron Kwok's pictures and you'll use your imagination:

Aaron Kwok

Tien You looks exactly like that. And because of his pretty boy face, I'll place him alongside Lee Hom, Rain, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Aaron Kwok in one of two categories I have for my secret obsession with Chinese male stars.

Listening to: -

Sydney / April 2008

Listening to: -