Thankful

I have to say the last few days have been incredibly hectic. Yerah... with three weeks to go in my current residence, I am already drawing up my plans for the next nine months.
Already I have no less than four major projects yang da penuhkan the schedule.

Nih baru dapat lagik satu offer. Syukur.

Selama ni aku jumpa memacam manusia.. dan yang bertopengkan manusia walaopon sebenarnya entah spesis apa sebenarnya sebalik penyamaran tuh. But at this point in time, when I am really going to learn what it means to be independent - not to makan gaji jerk and rely solely on my own work, I have found several people so supportive of me.

A musician yang terkenal as a music director called me up sebab arituh terserempak tak sempat nak borak; Pas updated plans aku kat dia - dia tawar diri nak tolong my first production dari bab scoring. Walaupun budget aku ciput, dia sanggup katanya nak pinjam nama, dan pengalaman dan hasil kerja nak tolong aku. Bless you.

So much support has been comiing in - and not just in terms of words (talk is cheap). And it's made me stronger nak work harder towards my goals.

Not much to blog about today sebab ari nih banyak sumbat depan laptop wat paperwork for some other stuff and a little bit of work.

Plus nak layan perot yang bergelora (cirit birit la)...

Managed to edit htis video finally.... hope you guys like it.


Be posting more tomorrow. I'm wondering or not nak posting something about Akademi Fantasia - merasalah kang aku wat ada yang meeting kang kecoh lagik aku pecah lobang.
Merasalah... heh!

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Cloverfield - the BEST movie of 2008!!!

It WAS the most anticipated movie of 2008... (for me, at least), and now it's THE BEST movie of 2008! I'm of course talking about Cloverfield!

If you've not heard anything about it so far, then where have you been? Ok lah, in Malaysia itself, hype over Cloverfield has been minimal, so perhaps you haven't come across it.

Speed up your reading and CLICK HERE for my past entry on Cloverfield.
Anyway, I am officially one of the first few dozens to watch Cloverfield in Malaysia! I watched it beginning 1030 hours on 16 January 2008. A day before it opens in Malaysia, and also before the official international release on 18 January.

How was it? Oh my God!!!!

I don't want to give away too many details (if you believe that - I also am gorgeously hunky at my ideal body weight). For those of you who want it in a nutshell, it's a monster movie. I know what you're thinking. Either men running around in rubber suits stomping on model buildings, or massive use of CGI.

Almost true there... there is quite a bit of CGI, BUT it doesn't scream in this movie as everything is subtle and beautifully woven in. It looks and feels real!

Like you could have been there itself!

The premise of the story starts when Rob is given a farewell party. Dude's been promoted and is going to Japan as the new vice president.. At the party, Beth, a crush he's slept with shows up with a new guy, just to piss him off for being a dimwit who won't commit.

Jason is given the job of documenting his brother's sayonara party, and taping goodbyes and testimonials from everyone by girlfriend Lily. He however passes it to the blur Hudson whose work of taping everything is the documentation eventually found and tagged as 'Cloverfield' - the military code name for the site.

Woven in between the action, are several relationship stories. It doesn't go too deep but beyond just scratching the surface.

There's Rob, and how he deals with his feelings for Beth. There's Jason and Lily who are almost the perfect couple. And there's Hudson who has a massive crush on a rather socially awkward character like him in Marlena.

And as the first attacks on Manhattan begin, we're slowly shown Rob, Jason, Hudson, Lily and Marlena trying to make their way off the island. Ooh, the rolling head of the Statue Of Liberty is just a moment to savour! It's like the official flag off of Manhattan monster madness!!!

So anyway Jason is the first to on the bridge, when the creature smashes it, with him being the first to say bye bye from the group.

The make a U turn when Rob gets a call from Beth which is cut off saying that she's trapped in her apartment. Along the way, we get glimpses of the monster, but not much. Through TV coverage, snatches here and there...

Along the way, the subplots kick in, though they don't distract the action fans, by being too much, or they're not like just in there for the hey of it - and does basically explore the blossoming/full blown status of relationships of the characters.

Marlena is the next to go when they get caught in a crossfire between the military and the monster, which is shown to be able to 'dispense' smaller creatures. Marlena becomes a casualty when the group try to bypass the nastiness by stepping into a subway line underground, and get attacked by the little critters. Marlena is bitten, and immediately, a viral attack begins, and she has to be put down by the military which they come across.

Emotional moments... especially for Hud, who throughout the experience has been warming up to her after so long having a crush on her.

Rob refuses to join the military evacuation and insists on saving Beth. When they reach Beth's apartment, it's kind of knocked aside, resting on another building.
The trio courageously go up the next door building and hop over. They manage to save Beth, and are bundled away in helicopters.

Well, at least Lily gets away. Because the monster starts raging and while Hud, Beth and Rob go in one chopper, it gets bitch slapped by the creature and goes crashing down.
The three of them survive, though not the pilot.

As they pick themselves up, they hear massive roars, and Hud shoots the camera upwards only to see the creature in full glory, before he gets chomped.

Rob and Beth make their way to Central Park,

In a very familiar scene in the tunnel in the park (they mention Stranger's Gate in Jodie Foster's The Brave One from last year for the same location where her character was mugged), the climax takes place.

Not being able to get out of the city in time, as the military had already warned the government has already agreed on blowing up the island, they record their last moments before being blown up.

And that sums up Lost and Alias mastermind J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield.Hope you guys skipped the blacked out parts and did not highlight to read if you didn't want to know the full details.
But I doubt I could spoil it for you even then because it is a spectacle.

I give it a five star rating!!!! Very rare!!!

The monster? What does it look like? N some parts, it looks almost humanoid, with a weird face that looks alien like, with crustacean similarities. Reminded also of an eel, a whale, Aliens, Predator and a lot more things.

Yes, the Americans now have their own Godzilla!

The promo standee at GSC Mid Valley

They were having a screening of Kala Malam Bulan Mengembang next door, so bumped into Avaa masa nak kuar Golden Screen Cinemas in MidValley. Abang Mamat Khalid the director was there too.

Avaa showing off her bag.

So after the movie, Farihad, Faridhul, Nurul and I went to lunch. We were so stoked about the movie, we gabbed about it forever.Popped by this place I always walked past but never went in for a bite called D'lish. Awesome lunch. Nice touch to a great beginning of today.






And they had cupcakes! The most gorgeous, and glorious tasting cupcakes I've had so far! Worth it! Yummy!!!!


And here's what I had for lunch. Not much of a food critic. but I think mine was the quarter chicken with live rice, roasted vegetables and some sauce with a lemon. Also had a cupcake for dessert. Yummy! Cupcake freak alert!


While we were wolfing down our food, tetiba dari sebatu perasan ada sorang diva catwalk nih. Semakin dekat, it was obvious it was... kak Ogy! Lor... dia nak shopping sikit rupanya sebab esok dia ke Sarawak nak bersedia untuk ujibakat Akademi Fantasia there.


Sebab kita dok luar, so dia pun perasan. Stopped over for a quick chat. When everyone decided to go back office (seronoknya aku cuti!!!) I headed to izie, for a drink and to do some work on my laptop.

It was quiet so managed to pound out a couple of articles.

Left later in the evening to catch up with friends, and then headed to to have dinner with Boo. Turning in early. Been sleeping abut midnight the past few nights, which is considered quite early for me.

Age must be catching up. Remember to book your Cloverfield tickets for tomorrow guys! Time to sleep...

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Ujibakat Akademi Fantasia 6 - Day 1

Hari dah tiba! The search begins again! By noon I was in Astro for the first day, of the first round of auditions for Akademi Fantasia.

Kali nih lebih sistematik. Takde cam tahun tahun lepas ramai sangat orang ala ala funfair, sebab meka yang da register diberikan lebih kurang, masa meka akan diaudition atau di beritahu akan di call kalao lama lagik time ujibakat meka. Kan bagus camtuh.

So anyway - ini ada beberapa perubahan pada info ujibakat yang terbaru, sebab there has been a change of venues. Sila amik perhatian ek bagi mereka yang akan menjalankan audition di Kuching, Penang dan Kuala Lumpur. Inilah lokasi yang sudah di confirm! Abaikan info lepas.

Senarai Tarikh/Tempat Ujibakat
Negeri/Tempat Ujibakat/Tarikh
Kuala Lumpur/Astro Bukit Jalil/12 & 13 Januari
Sabah/Kompleks Asia City, Kota Kinabalu/17 - 20 Januari
Sarawak/Merdeka Palace, Kuching/17 - 20 Januari
Pulau Pinang/PISA/26 & 27 Januari
Johor/Kompleks Mawar, Johor Bahru/25 & 27 Januari
Kuala Lumpur/PNB Darby Park/2 & 3 Februari

So sebab banyak pics kali nih. Aku bagik basic info on what tok place and then it's on to pictures ok.

Kali nih, seperti before, ada Team A dan Team B. Semua peserta dibahagi dua kumpulan, dan diadili dua set of judges. Untuk peringkat kedua, iaitu ujian vocal, the judges are; Team A, Ajai dan Deja Moss dan Team B, Syafi dan Ogy.

Peringkat keempat patutnya ada Team A dan Team B gak, tapi sebab semalam tak ramai yang layak ke stage nih, so I guess meka save time and gabungkan jerk judges of Team A and B.

Judges for this stage adalah Marlia Musa, Fatimah Abu Bakar and Baha from Maestro. tatau la esok camna.

Lokasi lain, akan mempunyai judges lain - especially Sabah dan Sarawak sebab clash of dates. Dengar antaranya Ida Nerina pun akan jadi judge tau.

Ok... now on to the pictures.

Peringkat 1 - Pendaftaran


Ada syle lah! Walaupun zoom sebatu - tetap maintain pose!


The right pose - and the wrong pose. Stylo belah kiri... abaikan yang dok terkangkang di sebelah kanan.


Sarimah sempat pose tuk aku in the midst of kekecohan audition. Judges Team B peringkat 2 - Syafie dan Ogy.


Seriousnya...


Inilah ruang ujibakat Team B.


Antara yang mencuba nasib. Ada yang lepas ke peringkat 3, ada yang tak. Yang baju merah tu umur 42 tahun. Last dok posing tuh Raja Fouzeel, executive producer Akademi Fantasia kali nih.


Dalam tension telinga berdarah dan bernanah sempat pose. Kali nih kad hijau ke merah digunakan kalao ada mechanical failure jerk. Selain tuh lampu kat tengah tuh ler dipakai.


Amused...


Not amused...


What's on the judge's table.


Team A diuibakat dalam studio. Ini lak set lain.


Yang dok nunggu masuk studio.


Judges Team A - Ajai dan Deja Moss.


Kalau ko penah hadiri production Astro apa pon - mesti kenal Dollah Cantik kan? 0065 cam klon lak versi muda. Yang sebelah tuh si Fadhil - konsep ala Ibnor Riza versi muda.


Er... takyah komen lah.


Er... ni nak ujibakat ke? Ke nak tengok rakaman Kwek Mambo Anita.


Oops... nak layan kak Nita rupanya.


Judges peringkat 3 - Baha, kak Fati dan kak Marlia.


Sorang umur 41, anak tujuh ke haper, sorang agik umur 44 anak sorang cucu dua. Perlu ke?


Ingat tak sorang yang posing kat pic di atas? RUpanya one half kembar tuh. Meka berdua layak ke peringkat 3.


'Ibnor Riza' pun layak ke peringkat ketiga.


Saerah muncul lewat petang sikit.


Akma bukan masuk lagik ek. Kebetulan ada jer di situ.


Pose! Ebi pun ada...


Warm up bagik meka yang baru nak masuk peringkat 2.


She did better than she looked.

Aku akan upload videos esok, since aku rasa dah berat korang nak bukak semua pics nih. Enjoy... and remember to check in tomorrow for updates.

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Sehati Berdansa

aI know there are gonna be tons of reviews on Sehati Berdansa, so aku malas nak tulis panjang lebar about the actual event, especially seeing I didn't really follow it throughout the debut season.

Having watched a few episodes, it was rather painful to watch the celebrity couples gerak cam kayu that it made me feel all the more stronger about not following it.

Still, malam tadik final aku gi gak. Not so much for the actual competition - tapi nak catch up on friends I used to be close with.

Of course, one couple I knew them separately before they got married. Tapi meka ni awal da eliminated tapi sebab meka pon. Of course aku cita pasal pasangan As dari kumpulan Feminin dulu dan Azman Adnan, bekas pemain bolasepak Selangor (ok so he played for a few other teams, DBKL the first tak silap aku, and I think the last was Negeri Sembilan).

Seronok sangat jumpa meka nih. Memula serempak backstage masa tuh sebab aku parking keta aku that area. Bumped into everyone getting ready. First person aku bump into abang Azman, tapi tak sempat chat, walaupun aku sempat say hi. Moka dia blur... tak ingat la tuh. Well, considering the last time we met was I think in 1993 or 1994, no surprise gak.

The men from the six eliminated teams getting ready.


Moved a little bit further lak, ada pasangan 'kawan' nih lak. Sempat tuh posing walaopon running through their script.

Ever ready to pose - Linda and Fahrin. Kawan je ek?


Grabbed a seat, and then since it was some time headed backstage again sebab tadik rush nak chat tak sempat bebetul tegur everyone.

Caught up with Azman again. Sebab earlier dia tak cam aku (after 13 years or so tak jumpa - no surprise la)... started refreshing his memory time kita lepak skali dulu.

Bila aku cakap aku dak SSFC, fan club tuk Selangor FC, satu satunya ahli bukan Melayu dulu la... dia cam ingat ingat sikit.

Tapi bila pakai the privy info baru dia recall.

"Ala...dulu...padang FAS, pas practise, lepak kedai Pak Man...ngan empat budak hitam and (takleh cita sini)...."

Then he was laughing and we caught up. Lama siot tak jumpa bang Azman. Besh! Dia dulu one of my fave footballers - time tuh memang takde orang leh lawan dia la. Aku ikut career dia ever since dia moved from Kuala Lumpur to Selangor punya team and memang fan gila time tu yang aku masih belajar.

Kira hampir semua game home and away aku wajib ada. Yang tak dapat pegi dulu pun Sabah dan Sarawak, and Brunei sebab cost factor (studying ma masa tuh) and also Kelantan (always dangerous sebab kena ujan batu kang)

Hah...jangan tatau. Aku ni footie freak gak dulu. My teams were Selangor and Manchester United. Smakin tua... guess my minat slowly hilang. Skang haram nak ikut bola. Kalao gi mamak orang tengok Star Sport - kecoh kecoh... aku blah terus sebab tak tahan bising.

After that session - tanak kacau dia bersiap, so made said a few more his.Bumped into Hanapfe, laki si Haiza... dia nih kelakar. For some reason, ko dengar dia gelak pun rasa nak gelak skali.

Matilah... Haiza pinjam laki ko jadik model sini jap sebab sempat snap pic dia tengah wat lawak.

Hanapfe nih...


And then there were the unmentioned singers yang nyanyi smalam in Farhan and Rosma. Bab samba ke salsa tuh si Farhan yang wat, while Rosma did the joget songs. Piccie time!

Rosma dan Farhan. Kesian tak dengar pun mention - and wish they had let Farhan sing the theme song to Sehati Berdansa live.


Didn't have much time to mingle and chat, and also didn't want to get into anyone's way - so after a brief chat with Radhi, and discovering my camera had run out of batteries (won't happen after this because I just got a rechargeable pack), scooted to the front to enjoy the show. Here are some pics - from the start... and then masa pas umum result. Malas nak komen lebih pasal keputusan, but it's not like we didn't know who was going to win, kan?

No problems with it cause could hardly care about it. Managed to get some batteries off Iqram (tima kasih) and snapped away.

As the show was starting. Too many colours!


The park in the Putrajaya International Convention Centre that was my smoking area for many a commercial break.


Time nak umum result.


Announced - and roll credits!


Mobbed! By photographers and fans.

Have to compliment the kids who did the tap sequence though. I think of all the performance yesterday night, termasuk lapan choreographer masa intro tuh, bebudak tuh the best lah! They were helluva a lot more professional and in synch with each other showing that they had worked hard on their routine, and came off as total pros. Can't say much for anyone else who danced throughout the remainder of the program.

Yeap, I'm trying to be nice... especially since it is for charity. So no mention of the loud, garish outfits, the cheesy techno music, or the wrong choice of performances.

Nope... none of that. Just wished other organisations got the money though. I know the Malaysian Association for the Blind, the Malaysian AIDS Council and the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Society (can't remember their exact name) needs the funding a lot more for the lack of funds flowing in. Oh well...

Made my way to the press conference and post party before the mob hit, so managed to chow down awal and get a nice shot of Putrajaya from the terrace deck where the event was held.

Nampak very the futuristic.


So time tuh ler dapat catch up. Si As mati mati nak perkenalkan aku ngan Azman. See, the last time aku hang out ngan As pun was I think in 1996, sebelom dia even jumpa Azman. After that we all just lost contact.

Aku kenai As I think sometime in 1994 masa aku kat college in Ampang, because I was... erm dating someone in that group she was in. Matilah no further info on that.

So we became buds and she was my party mate masa zaman Boom Boom Room Kuala Lumpur.
When they got married, aku terkejut, sebab tak sangka two people I knew separately had hitched, tapi tak kesempatan. And because I didn't go for the weekly Sehati Berdansa progrsam, tak kesempatan ler meet with them.

"Hah.. dia ni member aku dulu time party party," si As nak perkenalkan.

"Eh matilah ko... aku kenal laki ko sebelom ko pun kenal dia," aku gelak.

"Tak kisahlah... aku nak kenalkan gak," si As tergelak gelak.

Matila... dari time aku kenai dua orang ni, kicik jer... half my size. Merasalah celah meka skang ala happy family lak semua bolat. Well, all of us grow up... or sideways... sooner or later.

To my former sis... (sebab lama tak lepak former la) Asfarina, all the best, gurl, in everything. And to abang Man... jangan tambah bulat agik wei...


Moving on... korang perasan tak ada someone kat Sehati Berdansa punya finale tuh. Kak Ogy la... pengkritik jemputan. Tertanya tak pasal kehadiran kak Ogy? Hah...tengok... sampai kedudukan kat PC pun... special sikit.



So what exactly was she doing there? Nih some pre-season Akademi Fantasia musim keenam gossip.

Sebenarnya aku sebelum ni da dengar banyak spekulasi pasal kak Ogy punya potential involvement in the upcoming season.

Ada yang kata permanent pengkritik lagi... then ada sumber kata dia la bakal host pengganti Aznil dan bukan Sarimah atau Zainal Alam Kadir, and tak kurang juga yang membisik dia nih bakal PENGETUA untuk Akademi Fantasia akan datang.

Any truth in it?

Potentially... maybe.

Sebab there must be a reason for her high profile appearance and association kan? Do you see Linda Jasmine or EE there in the press conference up front? No? So who is Ogy going to be.. I mean in what position? Dengan promosi camni mesti ada sesuatuh kan?


"Tahniah ek kak Ogy kerana benda tuh bulan tiga nanti tuk program Astro tuh" aku usik.

"Eh... mana ada!!!!!!" gelak kak Ogy before running off, shouting an additional remark of "Mulut jahat!!!!" and then more laughter. Oops...pecah lobang ke? Oh, I guess I wasn't supposed to suspect. Merasalah.

Well, knowing production Akademi Fantasia slalu last minute, I wouldn't expect anything to be signed on YET, tapi I sense some potential in her name being one of the favourites.

Well, Sarimah ke... Alam ke... Ogy ke... semua aku stuju. Jangan AC Mizal dah ler. Puke! Ok lar guys... tired... nak wrap up this entry. Enjoy the rest of the pics.

The trophy - er... cam beli kat Hot Market lak.


Vanida and Rashidi - the champs. Don't you guys think Shidi ni cam Jalaludin Hassan da rupa dia?


Linda tangkap feel pose jap.


Sorry malas sangat letak bebanyak pics. Hope these will do. Later, guys...

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