The 3hundred sixty degrees of ME

I’m such a sucker for this kinda tunes… !!!

It’s from a mid-90’s band called ADORABLE. First listened to them when a friend of mine passed me his DIY compilation of numerous Subpop and UK’s non mainstream bands… I hate to call this kinda music as Alternatives musics coz the term have been misused on numerous occasions…

APIL (the friend) got massive collection of music records straight from the UK… It was from him that I managed to listen to tunes by bands such as PIL (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols project), The Verve (pre Bittersweet era), James and the absolutely fabulous Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (hit song - KILL YOUR TELEVISION)… APIL did a compilation of these bands and many others and sell it to friends as  "Alternative Fuzz" Compilation… It was the top selling cassette (yes… it was the cassettes era) in VI for months….

A sad note on APIL… he was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years back… Once he was found wandering on the Federal Highway trying to walk barefooted to KLIA… Currently on the road to recovery… Cheers bro…

The tune is classic Brit-pop tune… Just love the dreamy feeling with it’s mundane, dark and gloomy as the UK’s weather lyrics… This is the elixir of life!!!!

Will try to put the song in my Friendster Home….

Update - the song is already on my Friendster Profile page… happy listening

A To Fade In

I remember walking home with my father from the station
Hand in hand, and all alone in silent frustration
And the words he said to me just drifted away in the wind
Like this memory, like the photographs in my father’s house

I don’t want to be faded skin
I don’t want to fade out
I want to fade in
I want to fade in

Can you see me? I can’t see myself
Can you hear me? I can hardly hear myself
And I don’t want to be a faded memory
All I want is to be me

I don’t want to be faded skin
I don’t want to fade out
I want to fade in
I want to fade in

I stumbled upon this document while going through some old FCVP related files at the office today… It’s a letter from Zajil Advertising Agency confirming that they’ll be my host for the duration of the training and site visit to their office in Saudi Arabia back in 2003. What make this letter special is that it’s written in Arabic… Now it’s not everyday that u see your name written in Arabic don’t u??? But i do think the spelling of my name is a bit off here… Was it Fadil…???

The trip was called off coz some sick Arabs bombed a residential area that killed a few… For that the venue of the trip was changed from Saudi Arabia to Italy… The rest is history….

Click on the picture for a bigger view….

Yup… it’s been a while since i updated my blog…. Got a few happening stuffs going on for the past few weeks… The first thing is I started classes again… There goes my weekends… It’s books, disscussions, presentations and loads of boring stuff all over again for me… sad sad sad…. 

But still in between I managed to squeeze in a few worthwhile activities… I participated in Karnival Kanu Putrajaya again this year… Representing Team PJC Ayam (my office’s team), we were supposed to be the overwhelming favourites… and yes we were… Team Ayam is made up of "veterans" of a few races (Penang, MAKSAK, previous Karnival)… They coined the name Ayam a few days before the carnival coz we lost a few race to Team PJC Badut during practice… the Badut team meanwhile are made up of a few veterans and some new green horns….

Both teams qualified for the final without any difficulty really… But going to the final race I kept thinking what if Ayams lose to Baduts… The thought of losing to the Baduts really gave me the creeps… UNACCEPTABLE… It’s as simple as  that… I even made a resolution to retire rowing if we lose out to the Baduts… It’ that serious….

The final itself was a close final… in the beginning that is… Slowly the Ayams break away from the rest of the pack and took a commanding lead… in the end the real fight was for the 2nd placing between the Baduts and the team from KWP (i think)… Ayam Superbrand won… much to my relief…fuhhhhh….

With that settled it was suggested that the team go to Genting to celebrate the achievement… And go to Genting we did… We went on working Thursday as we wanted to avoid the crowds… The trip was pleasent one… It hit the jackpot as the weather was great… It was damn bloody misty up there… The rides was excellent as this is my first time going into the Outdoor Park… Imagine the ’syiok nyer’ factor on your own ok…

• Cheers…!!!

I got to watch 2 very contrasting Indonesian movies last week… One was the much hyped and publicised Ungu|Violet… Starring Dian Sastro and a relatively unknown newcomer by the name of Rizky Hanggono…. Well actually I was at the cinema hoping to watch Initial D with my wife… But it seems that the cinema didn’t have that movie playing… We did have many other movies to consider as replacement but i just don’t why we (or was it just me….) choosed to see Ungu|Violet… Oh yeah… Dian….. Hehehehe…

The sypnosis goes like this…

"…Lando (Rizky Hanggono) is a depressed photographer who has just recently separated from his fiancé. However, after meeting the beautiful Kalin (Dian Sastrowardoyo) by chance, Lando was immediately struck by her beauty and offers her a chance to model for him.

It does not take Kalin long to fall for Lando but the latter unexpectedly rejects her affection, driving away the heartbroken Kalin. Unbeknownst to Kalin though, Lando is suffering from leukaemia and does not have much longer to live…."

Ok… now on the movie itself…. Hmmmmm… Let’s see… Where should I start….??? Artistic film really… With heavy topic and matter on hand… About rag to riches and conforming to reality… Lando’s dying…  Nice shots and cinematography… Nice song by Padi to go with it… and that’s about it… Really!!!… Yup… it seems that the movie is a bit of a letdown… The storyline to start with was not as polished and smooth as i would expected from these type of movies… And the worst thing is that I fail to sympathize with the suffering and longings of the main casts of the movie… Rizky was so ‘kayu’ and emotionless… Dian did better but her character progression from being a ‘penjual tiket bas’ to super famous supermodel was done so hastily that u can’t relate to what’s her problem was…. Hmmmmm… I was dissapointed…

Well… I was there for the wrong reason anyway…

The 2nd indon movies that i watched is "Kiamat Sudah Dekat"… Recommended by a friend, this movie was really a surprise… The story goes like this…

"… Fandy (Andre Stinky) falls head over heels in love with Sarah (Ayu Pratiwi) and wants to marry her but faces some challenges from her religious father, Haji Romli (Deddy Mizwar). To get the girl of his dreams, Fandy, who grew up and lived in the U.S., has to learn about Islam. With the help of a friend, Fandy soon discovers the proper religious ways and becomes a different person. While Fandy studies the Al-Quran, Haji Romli plans to unite his daughter with the son of his best friend. Fandy then must find a way to prove that his love for Sarah is sincere if he plans to marry her… "

It looks like an heavy plot but it isn’t… The movie is funny as we follow Fandy journey in rediscovering Islam… Fandy really needs help… He’s totally at lost being a Muslim… He even had check his IC to confirm that’s he’s a Muslim… Other funny instances were recording his child friend Saprol (Dilla’s favourite… ) conducting prayers aloud in a full fledged recording studio so that he can listen to it on a walkman to learn to pray… And he wasn’t sure if he’s ‘bersunat’ or not…

Along the way, his parents and friends began to notice changes in Fandy. The whole family held a family meeting regarding it after Fandy’s sister caught him praying… In explaning these changes he uttered this saying…

‘.. KIAMAT SUDAH DEKAT MEN…’

Fandy explained that as he began rediscovering Islam he became more aware the the world is about to end and thus it’s better to start preparing one self with knowledge…

To see Fandy ( a normal youth who enjoys music and falling in love ) preaching ’softly’ bout days of reckoning to all really impressed me… Indonesians really are the more creative as the movie managed to tackle the difficult  issue in such a relax manner that anyone can really relate to it… And the film really make an impression on me….

So… in conclusion… I was there for the wrong reason for Ungu|Violet… But Fandy managed to pull me out from trouble by reminding me that… "Kiamat sudah dekat men…" Done…..

p/s… all synopsis are NOT by me…. malas

hahaha… managed to source up a complete Japanese Domestic Market AE101 Corolla FX front bumper + lips + grille from a ZTH forumner… Cost me a whopping rm600… It’s considered cheap really… If i were to look for it in local chopshops around Klang Valley it will be around rm750-800 per set… A dealer in Pandan once quoted me just the bumper for rm650…. KOyak here and there some more….

Thanx Ah Seng from ZTH… Nice item

I snapped this picture somewhere around Penang Street while holidaying with my family last week… Technically a difficult picture to take coz I was walking away from this apek ( I was facing the other way…) and the camera was under my right arm pit (teknik bawah ketiak)… That’s why we can’t see the apek’s full face…

"The almost perfect picture of desolation of a beggar on the streets…"

I’ve been wanting to try this small gadget for ages… I managed to do so a few weeks back… Made up of aluminium sheet, the vortex generator is to be placed in the air intake ram leading to the throttle body… What it does is creating a vortex by swirling the cold air coming thru ram from the air filter box thus making the air more dense… Denser air is good for combustion… Other banefits includes…

• boost performance
• improve fuel economy
• better idling
• de-carbonise your engine

I’ve been using it for about 2 weeks and what i noticed is that the car can reach 120km/h point easily… I dun really have to press the pedal hard like i used to… Overtaking another car is a breeze as i can feel the torque surge immediately after pressing the throttle… Engine idling improved significantly… Long gone are the rattling noise coming out of the dashboard most of the time… But i can’t say much for fuel comsumption though… I think it’s still the same….

For a lesson in making ur own vortex generator go to http://zerospeed.curvedspaces.com/beerclone_main.html

Yup… It’s true… Billy Corgan is back with a new album… This time he’s doing it solo… "The Future Embrace’ was released on 21th June and the album bring back memories of the 80’s electronica music pioneered by band such as Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys…

Go to billycorgan.com to have a listen to some of the tracks featured… Alternatively u can go to  http://www.myspace.com/billycorgan  for the latest news and Billy’s own blog… Heck… U can add him as a friend if u have a myspace account… Now u can really claim he’s a friend of yours….

Now should I go to Tower’s Record or Petaling Street to get the album…. Hmmmmm

Azan just came back from the UK a few days back after completing his ACCA exams. I planned to meet Dollah that night and I thought it might be a good idea to have a teh tarik session with the whole clan so that we can exchange news and updates each other as well…. SMS was sent out by 3pm with the message as follows….

• Bros… Budak2 minum2 kat Lotus CTBank sambil tgk Akademi Fantasia… After 10… Join???

Within half an hour favourable responses came in and the the whole thing is a go…

And so it is… by 11.30 almost everyone were there… We have Azan, Syahar, Shidee, Faidz and your’s truely from the Damansara clan… G-Man, Mamal, Mayatz and RAff from Melawati, Keramat and Cheras clan… Dollah and Cheq from Troops of Doom clan… and no Akademi Fantasia on the tv… Hehehehe…

• Syahar and Shidee got this wacky idea of asking me to join them in the PBG club… A spin off of PIBG, PBG stand for ‘Persatuan Bapak Gatal’… I will start from the low rungs as I’m not yet a father… Now try imagine what will PIBG stands for… I for Ibu… Go figure… Hehehe…

• Raff was busy showing off his new handphone… Got that ‘bapuk’ ringtone somemore… That " abang… angkat laa bang… ABANGGGG!!!" ringtone… What a cracker…

• And Dollah turned up with his new hairdo… BOTAK!!!!

• 
• Did show the guys Amad the Champiang’s car which was featured in Majalah KERETA July edition… All was impressed an relieved that the car is finally done after all these years… B+ tuh result ko paling tinggi kat ITM yer Amad??? Hehehe…

Latest update on Amad Champiang…

• pejal_hassan (10:09:01 AM): amcam ? ada menang?
  iwan_mini (10:09:14 AM): heheh 1st race … No1 …
  iwan_mini (10:09:20 AM): 2nd race no 2 …
  pejal_hassan (10:09:40 AM): and then?
  iwan_mini (10:09:43 AM): tu pun pasal lap ke 6 drive shaft aku tercabut seblah ..
  iwan_mini (10:09:58 AM): tayar pusing seblah jer ..
  pejal_hassan (10:10:00 AM): huk alloh….
  iwan_mini (10:10:10 AM): slow2 abiskan race ..
  pejal_hassan (10:10:23 AM): tak retire??? superb
  iwan_mini (10:10:25 AM): aku berpusing kat turn 5
  pejal_hassan (10:10:31 AM): wow
  iwan_mini (10:10:40 AM): tak … rugi kalo aku retire ..
  iwan_mini (10:10:57 AM): aku collect championship point ..
  iwan_mini (10:11:14 AM): insyaallah boleh dapat …
  iwan_mini (10:11:25 AM): 25 & 26 August ….
  iwan_mini (10:11:30 AM): Next round …
  iwan_mini (10:11:42 AM): Millenium support race ..

The Daniel Shield series of games were played over the weekend at VI Green. It is where the Old Boys get to play sport games against the Present Boys… The series includes football, rugby, badminton, water polo, ping pong, hockey and many more.

I played rugby for the Old Boys Team for the past 2 series… But health does not permit me to take part in this year’s series… Sounds corny huh…

Last year the Present Boys managed to conjure up an upset by beating the ‘Old Balls’. The score was 17-14… They won by a penalty kick from 30 yards out… The last time a Present Boys team won a rugby match against the OBs was when I was playing. That was in 1995… That team consisted of some of my best buddies during school days… Raff, G-Man, Shamrin, Anthony, Arman Popeye, Sek and many others…

So in this year’s series the OBs have a score to settle… I took the liberty of being the unofficial photographer as i’m not participating (tulang belakang bunyi ‘kruk kruk…’ ). The match went well for the OBs as they won by quite a margin… About 3-4 unanswered tries…

Sole representative of my 95 batch is Sek… We used to call him ‘lembu gila’ courtesy of his special ‘crazy cow’ runs… He’s still active playing though… Good for you Sek…

As for the Present Boys… There is always next year…