The day the music died...

Looking back, .... some of the best times of your life were the ones in college.

Especially when you were famous , not academically tho'.

Our first AD years of ITM were not in Shah Alam but thrown into a remote small rural, former mining town called Dungun, Terengganu.

No entertainment, no senior influence, no distractions, just raw and unadulterated talent majority fresh from school.

Thus, after getting to know the 'freshies' a little better, among them emerged a bunch of musically inclined individuals. The need to perform during the 'Induction Night' necessitate for a band to be formed.

Sahimi Cik on the drums, Aidil Tasphin on the Bass, Asri Ahmad on guitar, Fauzi on Persussions and of course there were others who want to 'menempek' , whether playing the tambourine, triangle or anything that makes a sound.

That's how it all started and we played through the semesters and it did not matter whether we have fans or not we played to the AD crowd and even to no crowd at all, - 'janji syiok sendiri'.

Influenced by a small record shop found in the nooks of Dungun town we found albums from 10 CC, Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers and a couple more (which I can't remember - fakta umor), we had our regular shots of musical inspiration. Mostly Jazz , progressive, fusion and funk.

Unfortunately, at that time what was hot on the charts were not songs from our prefered 'genre' but from bands like D'Lloyd playing songs like 'Oh dimana, Semalam diMalaya, mengapa harus jumpa' just to name a few.

We were not that hot after all, and most of them thought that our music were very mengantuk .

Which explains why our locker doors had inscription of JAZZzzzzzzzzzz.

So much for being a jaguh kampung !

However, the AD guys and gals were proud of us and had been very supportive during our whole year in Dungun.

Moving on to our 2nd year, - it was ITM Shah Alam Main Campus.

Suddenly, we all found out that there was a buzz going around the whole campus about a small AD band from a remote village in the East coast was coming to town.

We felt famous again !

The rest they say was HISTORY ...

.

l to r - Fauzi, Aidil, Asri, Rustam and Imi.

We had to censor the background sponsored by a now defunk cigarette brand - BENSON & HEDGES -( at that time a packet of 20's cost rm 1.80.)

l to r - Aidil, Fauzi, Sofi (where are you now Mr Sax man) Asri, and Norman (architect turned full time musician )

Check out the speaker Telinga at the corner.

l to r - Fauzi, Asri, Sofi (yes the Sax man) Aidil, Imi, and none other than mr. guitarist Mus Jazz.

This was our first gig outside campus. Check-out the disco lights .

Of course there were times when we had to share the limelight. We had to be the back up band for a group of Business Students.

Menggelabah juga jazz band main lagu 'BORIA'.

So much for 'Syiok Sendiri'.

Any one for a Band re-union ?

We still do signing of autographs !

I am back

Yes I am back, a momentus occasion especially when yesterday happens to be my birthday.

The last I wrote was on 28th February 2009 right after I received a gag order. This is for something that I blog in honesty and was seen to jeopardise a 'business relationship'.

Actually I have been writing on another blog for my condominium. (sinaranukay.blogspot)

Today also marks the day I came out of hibernation from my Facebook. - 125 days to be exact.

It was good.

Perkahwinan desa permai

Selamat Pengantin Baru

A couple of weeks ago I attended a relative's wedding in Kuala Pilah deep into the interior of Negeri Sembilan where your telco signal intermittently connects you to the outside world. It was a good change to witness the slow pace of life even during a wedding reception. 

The Tok Kadhi had a field day and is in no hurry when he took his time asking the 'suami to be' many many questions like..apa dia hukum Islam...cuba baca niat Dzohor berjema'ah ... etc...never running out of 'challenging' questions. 

Tergedik-gedik juga kawan menjawab..

Jaguh karaoke village beauty

Apart from the ever popular karaoke kampong (never short of AF wannabees & occassional Raja Lawak) the most talked about item on the agenda is of course - FOOD.

 

I bet you have not heard of Umbit Sawit - masakan lomak santan and daun kunyit. pheh ! 

Buek apo ambik gambar jang ?

And the best part of it all, which is at the brink of extinction ....the spirit of gotong royong oleh jiran kampong.

On the way home managed to grab a couple of Daging Salai just outside the town.

Balik kampong wo-oh-oh-oh balik kampong...

facebook or faceoff

I received this notification in my mail last night which heightened my suspicion of a conspiracy from the facebook team. Yes you heard me right. As I have mentioned in my last post, if possible refrain yourself from submitting all of your intimate personal details like addresses etc.  

Fair enough I am now accused and punished (not even suspected) of copyright infringement of my own video which I shot and edited personally making me the rightful owner.  

The thing that puzzles me is I have to fill in my phone number and home address which I had omitted in my facebook profile. I don't understand why do they need this. Do they want to visit me? Do they want to send me a snail mail?  

I am made to fill in a form and declare that I am the rightful owner otherwise face the consequences as stated below..

 

Hello, We have removed your video entitled "Goodbye Fandi" uploaded at 7:46am February 15th, 2009. We did this because we learned that your video might include copyrighted material owned by a third party, such as a video clip or background audio. If you are the copyright owner, or have permission from the rights holder to upload and distribute this material on Facebook, you may file a counter notice of alleged infringement by following the link below.  

Please note that if you re-upload this video without filing a counter notice, or if you upload another video that infringes on the rights of a third party, our system will again remove the content. This could cause your access to the Facebook Video application to be disabled, or your Facebook account to be disabled.

Lu pikir lah sendiri...

The journey begins..

First and foremost both the old Black Beauties were given the royal treatment to ensure a safe and sound journey..

Does embarking every weekend for 24 weeks on a bike journey through the unbeaten track of the peninsula sounds like an adventure ?  It sure does if loosing your way through the hot afternoon sun and the occasional heavy thunderstorm is your idea of a good adventure.

It all began last Saturday with the meter reading of 2240 mls / 3,604 km. and the first venue Trolak Selatan was not a disappointing one either. Going through the highway and exiting Sungkai is where the journey takes you through oil palm plantation. Yes the ocassional 'babi hutan' darting across the road was as expected as ever but surprisingly this time it happened within the Felda gated residence.

Once again the food was simply as kampung as you can possibly get - sambal belacan and the works.. Not surprisingly the local folks speak loghat Kedah as any other Felda Settlements elsewhere.

On the way home it was a definate pit-stop at ye old kueh pau joint made famous by the old apek on the corner of the main trunk road.

 

It now boasts a network of other joints in the city of KL where some people say this may affect the ori taste.

 

So a couple of 'bungkus to be kukus' later made their way into the box and off we went on the journey back to KL.

 A very wet and satisfying journey that is...

Next Kota Tinggi or maybe Gua Musang..

What to write huh?

Looking across the city skyline riding through the DUKE highway on my trusty scooter it hits me that I have not been updating my blog. 

Tu lah gatai pungkok nak involve writing other blogs and joining social network groups. 

Talking about Facebook it took me quite a while to join, not because that I was sceptical or reasons of that sort, but more to who really owns the data collected from our generosity in submitting every intimate detail of ourselves, friends social preferences etc.  (You won't even reveal your name to a salesman).

I read a couple of months back that Facebook has links with the CIA, and only last week I received another email speculating this fact. They say you can post details about yourself but refrain from putting address of your residence. You or your network group can be located easily pin pointing to the exact location, in case someone wants to drop you a bomb ( ala IRAQ)

Betoi ka ? "Lu pikir lah sendiri" ;-)

Anyway, I also received in my mail an invitation to join another form of a Social/Professional Network called Groupsites by Collectivex . Looks comprehensive and may take a while to fully utilise the features. Got to find out more about it.

Macam-macam,we got to write nowadays, in many forms sms, blog, emails, etc as compare to the past where we only read & watch, newspapers, tv, etc.

I'ts a two way form of communication, bla bla bla...as predicted a decade ago by the experts.

However when you write remember what the great RASTAMAN  said ' you can fool some people sometime, but you cant fool all the people all the time ' - BOB MARLEY

Kampung Pengantin berpindah

During this current economic uncertainty, one thing's for sure, - if you are going to get hitched, there are no two ways about it. Cannot postpone if the 'tarikh telah ditetapkan', so the next best thing to do is to find a suitable location to hold your kenduri.

You have a few choices.

 

Do it in your Kampung, that is if you have any kampung left (and if you consider KL a kampung), - do it in a  Hotel ( if budget is not a factor than by all means) - do it in your house,  if it has big enough compound or your house is at a dead end of the road, - do it in a Balai Raya if you can find one nearby, or better still if you want a simple cheap one - across the border-Siam? (not guaranteed)

A wiser choice now would be 'Kampung Pengantin'.

Reasonable ( in times of an economic downturn) yet very presentable.

Yes this is the same one in Ampang, behind the Proton showroom. The place has shifted to its new location in Setapak. A huge 2 acre space (about 20 shop-lot) enough to accomodate more than 1000 guest.

According to my friend Syed Nahar (who happens to be the owner), almost everyday, newly weds come by to check out the place and more often than not without hesitation book their date at this newly opened Bridal Village. It seems that he has secured almost all the weekends for this year. (Amboi ramai sungguh nak kahwin, siapa kata gawat )

All the best Syed , I think you have a winner here.

To those who plan to tie the Knot... 'Selamat Pengantin Baru' dan 'Lama'.

wREGA Anniversary dinner

The rare hand-stenciled logo was meticulously hand crafted on the cake by Koh himself ( talking about a dying art Koh.) 

On Friday 16 December 2008, wREGA celebrated its 8th Anniversary in a local Cafe in Phileo Damansara. I think this was one of the very few rare occassions where the Association celebrated an event of this sort. It was a very quiet affair attended by about 10 existing and newly joined members.

The Association could well be more than 8 years old considering the fact that it was first registered as a Selangor Chapter before it was re-registered as the official Graphic Design Association of Malaysia.

It was 10 years ago, where 7 of us designers  got together for the first time in a small cafe in Sri Hartamas and initiated this Association. Now if I can recall it was Me , Melissa Wong, William Harald Wong and a few others (damn can't really recall who the rest). Man, thats how long it was, and to think this was part of a design history. Got to do some research soon.

Anyway, the same question year in and year out that comes to mind - 'relevance of the Association with the times'

Past President Melissa Wong, current president Koh and past president Ken Tan cutting the anniversary cake specially bake by Mrs Koh. 

Among the attendees, Jay, Gina, Debbie, Kenneth Lam, Pooi to name a few.

Happy birthday wREGA . 

mental blog

Whom do you write? Yourself, or for the readers? Censorship or open book. Painting expectations or don't give a damn. Perfect grammar or lantag buang lah? Aim to please, or just speak your mind.

Write to drive traffic or to documents life's journey. Either way or what ever the reason, you just Write lah.

Opening of DUKE

click for more pictures

I took a ride on my scooter today towards the newly opened DUKE express way that connects Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang to Jalan Duta Interchange. It was a strange experience especially riding through unfamiliar territory. More strangely is the sudden downpour of rain right in the middle of a sunny day as though as the heavens are welcoming me. 

It sure felt like Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke, especially when the 6 lane road is empty and no toll being charged, at least for now but obviously not for long.