Too little time to vote..

I was out with friends last Friday night, when amidst a very important discussion about how monkeys that can swim has something to do with the ikan pari species that reputedly killed Steve Irwin, came an SMS that reads...

"P*** nye suki!" [Sent: 23:28:12 22-09-2006]

Sent by my mate Intan, it quickly reminded me that One In A Million Grand Finale was on that night.


^ Above already a good lot! Pix borrowed from www.bluehyppo.com. Thanks!

And the simple SMS also sealed the fact that it is too late for me to vote for Faizal some more (yes, I voted him in three times to finish off the credits on the DiGi prepaid pack that I had gotten for free, and wasted the rest of the credits to vote out a certain individual who did not show any effort to deserve the hiyakumon doruno).

I decided to tune in to its siaran ulangan yesterday - and regretted some more that it is (secara hakikatnya benar) too late for me to vote the Superman in.

Damn he did good! Like Alif, he did well to carry the original composition to the max (despite the song sounding very much like Dealova he managed to rockerized it and lend his vibe of originality to it), and his triple-play offering afterwards was even better. L.O.V.E. it!

There was a lot of gimmick involved - the cams on him right before he gets on stage, more dancers to accompany - as if the OIAM production is in conspiracy to make him look especially good (ini cuma andaian penulis sahaja).

They had too, I guess, especially when they've seen whoever comes close to brushing off Suki from leading the pack gets a lot of vote outs (read: Dayang, week after week, then Faizal turning up at the Grand Finale in lowest position sedangkan just the week before it was Alif sharing a spot next to Dayang as bottom two - so formula seems clear, yes?).

My fave Alif too got a real great song to suit his style, one that gave him ample room to growl out his low register and high notes for him to tackle with minimal effort and of course, do the kangkang thing.

He was visibly more confident during the second song, but I still think his best performance was the "Bukan kau pinta... " (subtle sign language accompanies) song - hate to agree with Paul on this - the dude IS made for theatre.

Suki got the Gemilang Part Two song - more catchy and almost as melodious - but did a terribly forgettable rendition (I can still remember how Alif and Faizal's songs go, not hers). She nailed the M2M song, though, but the bloody white hat! What's up with that?

And whoever was dressing up Faizal in that horrible excuse of jeans on fire has got to be fired! Poor Suki and Faizal, and Zai's mummy's top plus grandma pearls combo summoh! Haiyo.. the disastrous wardrobe reminded me how badly Dina and Jac was dressed during the Malaysian Idol 1 Finale!

Why 8TV why?

Anyway, while I'm at it, I gotta thank TV9 and TV3 for showing XX Ray - with Faizal Hussein doing his best - two times this month. Can rerun some more ah?

And 8TV, Intan's asking: She sent like 20+ SMSes to vote in Faizal, but it all didn't get through! The system kept giving her the "Your vote is unsuccessful...Please try again later.." kinda SMS.

What's up with that? Tak aci la like this...

"Apa woi, woi? Nama saja Melayu, budi bahasa tadda.."

And that's why I really dig P. Ramlee films - so lightweight, so simple, yet so kena! Like Ogy Ahmad Daud loves to say, "Mainan dalaman gitu!"

The line I placed on the title box above was taken from Seniman Bujang Lapok - it was the scene in which the threesome were trying to get into the Jalan Ampas film studio.


^ Above photo borrowed from www.p-ramlee.com thanks! Er.. mana Sudin.. kenapa tadda dalam ini gambar?

Ajis, Sudin and Ramlee each tried their luck in confronting the guard outside the studio - in not so many words and very little effort, they belittled the guard, asking the Indian dude questions choppily as if the stout fella was just a simpleton.

Hence the guard's famous, short but not so sweet snub.

A big ego might get in the way of seeing the real message these actors are putting out.

A more open mind (plus two years of Sastera Melayu in school for that isi tersirat extraction skill) will be more likely to notice that the single sentence, Nama saja Melayu, budi bahasa tadda.. actually signifies a number of things:

1] That Nama saja Melayu is a very literal thing - and that the things people usually notice earliert about other people, among others, is the race one is - which is not a bad thing, tis just the way things are.

2] That back then, Malays and budi bahasa are parallels, synonyms, expected, characterized.

3] That when a Malay is lacking of budi bahasa, it is an appalling condition, shocking, unexpected, should-end-up-as-front-page material kinda thing.

4] That the line is a really, really subtle yet deep-sliced teguran and should only be highly appreciated, as it comes from another fella who is not a Malay but knows enough about the Malays to know that Malays are berbudi bahasa kinda lot. After all the Indian dude must have been a friendly kinda chap and sure have gotten to know a lot of other Malay dudes to know that most of them are berbudi bahasa and rarely he finds one that does not potray the same characteristic.

So that's why when my Malay gal friends come complaining that they're so so so very tired of Malay boys trying to mengorat by making that stupid mouse screeching sound and throwing lines like, "Huiyo, berapa punya banyak la burger dia makan!"

Komen sebodoh itu sesuai betul kalu dibalas dengan, "Bukan setan, syaitan. Sultannn."

It kinda reminds us of the Bujang Lapok boys and the Studio Jalan Ampas guard. Even the Bujang Lapok boys were quick to throw in an apology and revert to their gentlemanly ways, why not do the same?

My suggestion: Kalu nak ngorat tu, just come over our teh tarik table with a smile. Make sure we aren't talking about our menses or body hair, then say la, "Excuse me, I'm Omar. My gang and I would like to be friends with you gals, can or cannot?"

OK what. Susah sangat ke nak buat?

"Aah, Omar boleh!"

Cara menghiburkan hati yang...

... marah:

1] Tarik nafas... lepas... tahan kejap... then ulang berkali-kali hingga tak boleh ulang lagi.

2] Decide secepat mungkin, agak-agak Hang Tuah ke Hang Jebat yang lebih hengsem tatkala dia memandu sebuah Proton Iswara?

3] Korek telinga seperlahan yang mungkin.


... frust:

1] Tarik nafas... lepas... ulang berkali-kali hingga tak boleh ulang lagi.

2] Decide secepat mungkin, siapa lagi comel: Big Bird sebagai runners-up Ratu Kebaya Tahun '67 atau Ronald McDonald sebagai jurucakap terbaru MaybeMaybeline?

3] Minum air kelapa muda yang ada payung kecik tercucuk at the side tu di tepi pantai yang indah.


... tension:

1] Tarik nafas... lepas... jeritkan perkataan "Bahulu, biawak, calculator, refrigerator!" dan ulang berkali-kali hingga tak boleh ulang lagi.

2] Decide secepat mungkin, mana lebih menakutkan: Budak yang dalam filem Ju-on tu ke, atau doktor gigi anda di sekolah rendah?

3] Carik-carikkan suratkhabar dan suruh kucing anda tolong "kemaskan" sepahnya. Syok oo..


... berdebar-debar:
1] Tarik nafas pannnnjang-panjang, lepas.... ulang secukup rasa.

2] Decide secepat mungkin, handphone mana lagi best, Samsung SGH-E900 atau LG K800?

3] Sempena keadaan yang mencemaskan anda itu, nyanyikan lagu: "Ketipak ketipak ketipung, suara gendang bertalu-talu, purak-purak bingung, hati di dalam bagai dipalu.. Yea ha!"


... boring:
1] Tarik nafas... lepas... eh tak boleh? Cuba lagi sekali tengok?

2] Decide selewat mungkin, mana lebih panas: Jalan kaki ke grocery terdekat di kala noon time atau duduk cubicle office yang bersebelahan dengan cubicle budak kaki kipas tuh.

3] Lipat baju, kemas rumah, cuci toilet, siram bunga, bersihkan aquarium, practice organ, teka iklan TV... blog!

New coop! New rules

Yesterday it was my moving to the new office day...

... thanks to a long island break that stretched from the mid of last week throughout the weekend - 21-year old, born and bred in Tioman, fun guide of ours Sarip of Genting Bayu Chalet had the eight of us enjoying our asses off... we're all still sing sing singing about it!

Sigh. (Happy sigh)

I got the whole moving business done quite quickly - stacks of crap and junk that had to be kept - sheesh. And what did me, my stack of crap and junk got to?

A real big ass place with Farmers know how many Chickens in it.

Whoa... macam susah je nak practice flexi-hour kat sini?

And the Fave Farmer isn't such a big ass in this big ass pool... so if the Farmer can't go around, the rest of the Chickens will have to fly... and this time it won't be legal. Sigh.

Why is flexi-hours the coolest thing in the corporate world?
- It'll make people deliver better work as there's the option to do it at the time when their creative juices flow
- It'll make the best workers stay
- It'll make me happy!