Electronic City by Falk Richter

Fucking shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Where am I? Who am I? What’s the number combination? Was it 22-44-15-17?

I don’t remember. I don’t know.

Welcome to Electronic City. A fictitious city in the tropics with a population of 2.5 million. Wired, connected. It is a story of disorientation and helplessness in the midst of the 21st century rush, a profound and distorted tale of two individuals – Tom and Joy, who are brought together by chance.

Tom is a high-flying business consultant, constantly on the move, in and out of airports and hotels. A different city, a different hotel. But they all look the same, the four walls. The similar corridors. He slumps into bed, confused, the only refuge being the porn channel.

Tonight, he is lost. Really lost. Frantic, panic-stricken, he recites numbers. He can’t remember where his room is. He’s been here 2 weeks. Heck, he doesn’t even know which hotel, which city he’s in. Disorientated, he reaches for his cellphone. He can’t find it.

Joy on the other hand, is a stand-in at a Pret-A-Manger, working a barcode scanner. It’s a monotonous, brainless job. The scanner stops working. Joy does not know why or how. She panics as a queue of businessmen awaiting to pay for their sandwiches grows longer.

What’s the bloody number for tech support? Fuck.

Tom and Joy, victims of technology and mass communication. Out of pure coincidence, if there was such a thing, they meet. Under the most unromantic circumstances, they fall in love.

It is an intriguing story, if a little weird. Lives, controlled by technology. And the story of two lives, trapped and confused, observed and studied. I remained engaged throughout. The set was fabulous, from the dangling glass screens and well-sorted lighthing. The projected animations added to the mood. Sound effects, produced by Edwin Sumun himself, was superb.

Overall, it was quite a buffet for the senses. Acting from the main characters of Tom (played by friend Tony) and Joy (Jamie Liew, my company’s ex-staff, what do you know!) was top-notch. And the narrative genius of Edwin, inclusive of Corinne’s sexy low pitch voice was a definite plus point. I love how the voices spoke in sync in some bits. The barrage of aural synchronicity was sexy!

And never has swearing sounded so good.

Along with fellow Tony groupies – Poh Lin and Addie, we met up with the cast. Congratulated Tony, then met Jamie for the first time, who apparently has heard lots about me (don’t ask me why). She’s as hyper in person as she is in her role as Joy. Heh. And Edwin, ha. The great Edwin. I finally get to meet him in person, and shake his hand. Brilliant. Funny how we’ve communicated online via the Mac User Group. For the longest time, we were supposed to have met up to discuss his website, which I am supposed to design and develop. He was delighted with the appreciative crowd, citing everything went as planned with the technical bits. (didn’t go too well the first couple of shows). Such a brilliant, talented man. Hope to catch more from him soon!

I totally enjoyed Electronic City, despite some bad reviews in the press. Trust Edwin Sumun to give you something different. Like Five Letters From An Eastern Empire, it’s different, edgy, out-of-the-box. He didn’t win 5 Cameronian Awards for nothing.

Good stuff Sumunda!

A Happy DeepaRaya Everyone!

Here’s wishing all Hindu and Muslim friends, relatives, acquaintances, associates and Malaysians the world over – a Happy DeepaRaya, double celebrations over and over again! May you be blessed with continued peace and solidarity, and everlasting supply of achi muruku, koli varuvel, beef rendang, ketupat and kuah kacang.

Three cheers to good health, good fortune and good food!

Happy holidays, Malaysia!

How to tell if your day isn’t going too well

How’s that to start the day?

Source: Forwarded email

Pondering Over Time

I am just sitting here on the sofa at Starbucks (a.k.a my mobile office) 1Utama, pondering. I’ve come to realise that I can have really productive days and really unproductive ones. Problem is, it’s never totally unproductive in a sense that I do get things done (mostly), only not optimising the time I have at hand. Which brings to point the issue of time management. This isn’t new. In fact this is a really old problem.

Why is everything last minute? Because at most times, I fail to prioritise or am just plain lazy. I justify to my lazy, procrastinating self that I need the rest. Or that I need that well-deserved break. And in the midst of a deadline, or delayed job, it can still happen, as if motivation never existed, and that I was, for some strange reason, in suspended animation. Where time stood still. No matter how I slacked and indulged in more time wasting, I’d still have, the luxury of time.

Alas, time waits for no man. I need to remind myself that. If I would be 10% more efficient, I bet I can be 200 times more relaxed, and I’d get 10 times more done. Which would translate into more free time, and more rewards in a shorter period.

That “Slacker” tee from TopMan which I sometimes wear, tells a lot. I really am no slacker, at least not a person without big ambition, although it accurately describes how terribly complacent and inefficient I can possibly be at times.

Some things in my life need to be changed. And this is definitely one aspect of it. More things done in less time. Less salt. High fibre. Low fat. More exercise. More sex. Less crap. Eh? Where was I again?

Of Hardware, Software and Joysticks

Ever wondered why Bahasa Malaysia will never be an international language? Try this phrase for starters:

ENGLISH:
The server gives a plug and play service to the clients using either hardware or software joystick. The joystick goes into the client’s port.

Now in BAHASA:
Pelayan itu memberi pelanggannya layanan cucuk dan main dengan menggunakan batang gembira jenis keras atau lembut. Batang gembira itu dimasukkan ke dalam lubang pelanggan.

Sorry, just had to do this! Hahaha.

Jabra Gabra

Remember the HBH-65 Sony Ericsson Bluetooth headset I bought online at Lelong a couple of months back? Let it remain a memory. A good one while it lasted. Which wasn’t long, really. Not after finding it in my washing machine when I was removing laundry to dry. And how in any humane sense of word did it get there? I don’t know.

It was definitely a step-up from the HBH-35 I was using for a while before it sputtered and refused to charge. With no battery replacement available, I decided to put it up for sale at Lelong, before it collected dust and cobwebs in my drawer. There was a buyer, surprisingly, snapped up like a Whopper.

Fast forward. Present time.

Before I settled for the HBH-65 previously, the Jabra BT800 caught my eye with its stupendously long list of features. But at RM350 (offer price!) for a brand new set over at Lelong (again), it was deemed slightly out of budget range.

So in the end, after much pondering and researching online, I placed an order for the Jabra BT330, a lightweight, no-frills Bluetooth headset costing just RM199. Nice.

17g. 7 hours talktime. 200hours standby time.

All that I’d ever need in a small package. Until next time I find a headset in my washing machine, this is my trusty communicating earpiece for now. And for now, I am a happy camper.

Toyota Avanza Stolen!

My brother’s 9 month old Avanza was stolen at around 12am this morning. Reg: WMK8200.

Have been delaying installation of Radiostar for him and now its gone. Right in front of the house in Kelana Jaya.

This is the same area where there was an attempt to steal my SR3 early in the year.

Fucking thieves. Hope to got the thief/thieves get hit by a huge-ass lorry and have their bits strewn all over the tarmac.

Bastards.

Latest update:
A contact in the police force have informed that there is a syndicate operating now, and many Avanzas have been stolen. I was told they will catch the culprit within 2 weeks. In the meantime, Avanza owners please be vigilant. Installing a good alarm system would be wise at this point.

Take care of your cars, people!

Encore – A Musical To Call Our Own!

Polished. Engaging. Beautiful.

If there were three words to describe the Malaysian musical – Encore, the aforementioned would be apt. Produced by Lew Chee Seong, directed by Chee Sek Thim and presented by the Five Arts Centre, Encore is an eclectic ensemble of musicals, of origins we can only claim as truly Malaysian.

Held at the beautiful Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), Encore features piano skills from singer-songwriter Shanon Shah, singers Alex Koh, Chee Sek Thim, Ida Mariana, Sukania Venugopal and Tony Eusoff.

Encore showcases music from Gerald Toh – “The Reluctant Saint”, Hari ‘Haze’ Krish Menon – “Hip-Hopera”, Imee Ooi – “Above Full Moon” and “Siddharta”, Johan Othman – “Oh, Brickfields!” & “Reunion”, Saidah Rastam – “The Storyteller & M! The Opera”, Sunetra Fernando & Adrian Lee – Opera Uda dan Dara.

My friend Poh Lin, who happens to be a prolific writer, animal activist and performing arts lover, raved about the production and highly recommended me to watch it. Another reason to catch it was, of course, in support of performing friend, actor/singer Tony Eusoff. Tony has always had a good singing voice, and we were eager to catch him on stage for the first time. The last time I attended a theatrical production in support of a friend was a Shakespearen spoof at the Instant Cafe Theatre, starring Alvin Wong (who happens to be Tony’s sidekick in Misadventures of Tony & Alvin!).

So there we were at KLPAC, 10 minutes before showtime – my soulmate Addie, my boo Jannster, Poh Lin and I, after a brief dim sum dinner at Jalan Ipoh. Poh Lin, like a star, knew everyone as if she worked there. Some familiar faces lingered and flashed past – the talented Jit Murad, arts activists Marion D’Cruz and Faridah Merican; also actor/writer/producer Gavin Yap, though a brief glimpse.

The show started five minutes late, but none complained. Encore kicked off with Does It Matter Anymore? a piece from the 1997 musical The Reluctant Saint. The polished and well-blended voices backed by the brilliant piano accompaniment promised an entertainment. And it didn’t disappoint.

Encore grew better as it wore on, from stories of lost homes, lost lands to lost loves. The hilarious Cun-Kan Aku! sung by Ida and Sukania was brilliantly delivered and got my tummy in stitches. Ida has got to be the highlight of the show, voice subtly husky, melodic, silky, pitch-perfect and full of soul. Every time her vocals filled the hall, I was silent. I just stopped breathing, shut my eyes and opened my ears to absorb the barrage of aural beauty that just filled me and felt right, so right. The rest were no less brilliant, of course. Individualistic yet complementary, silky smooth coordination was especially obvious in numbers like It’s Anarchy and Porcupine. Porcupine curry anyone? Thought not.

We were treated to some numbers in Mandarin after a 15 minute intermission. Mandarin, is not a language Addie and I understand well (Addie almost none at all in fact!) but music, as they say, transcends language and religion. Defies logic too, most of the time! Tony was in his element, coupling with Alex on a duet, then later Sukania. Lifted from Siddartha, the Chinese numbers were melancholic and sad, but beautiful nonetheless.

I think the highlight and the best bits were numbers from Huzir Sulaiman’s Hip-Hopera. Ida blew me away with her rendition of Love Goes. Chee had everyone in stitches with Donno Don Tok, a Manglish-Ah Beng-style number. Totally hilarious!

I also loved the duets. Tony and Sukania did a lovely Beginilah, from Opera Uda dan Dara.

We met Tony after the show to congratulate him. He said to me, “You are the first guy friend to come see my show!”. I said, of course, I am cultured! Hahaha. We told him he was going to make us all broke since he has two other productions coming up – The Girl From Ipoh, also starring Carmen Soo and Electronic City, starring also the brilliant Edwin Sumun. Told him I will be becoming a Tony Eusoff groupy and a fan club is in the works. Heh.

It will be a broke month I tell you. Will also be catching Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion later in the month. A big “adoi” to the wallet. The price you pay to be cultured I tell you!

Front Row and an iPod full of videos!

The rumour mills were right. Though really not a new idea per se (portable digital video players), the great iPod, all of the sudden, gains video-playing capabilities. Launched at an Apple Special Event in San Jose, California, USA – starring marketing maestro and Apple head honcho Steve Jobs(damn you Steve, again!), the event also saw the launch of iTunes 6 and a new iMac G5, featuring Front Row (a software and Apple Remote media solution).

Image courtesy of Apple.com

Hail the new iPod. Music for your eyes.
With the new 30GB and 60BG iPod, Apple streamlines its iPod product line further with the exit of the iPod mini, iPod Photo and iPod U2. Joining the successful iPod shuffle and evolutionary iPod nano in its quest for world domination, the iPod revolutionises, yet again, the way we experience media. It is no longer “just a digital music player”. Think music. Podcasts. Games. Photos. Video. And more.

Imagine bringing your favourite tunes, photos and music videos with you. How compelling! When you look at the big picture, Apple, the master of convergence, is now heading towards the “master of digital media’ crown. It brought digital music downloads to the masses and now, from the looks of it, looks set to do the same with video. Your personal music video collection, from USD1.99 a pop. Wow. At this juncture, the ITMS has a collection of 2,000 downloadeable music videos and TV shows, joining the collection of 2 million songs available online.

Now, if only we, poor Malaysian sods, have our own iTunes Music Store. And an AppleStore to call our own. I feel so… insignificant. Unimportant, unwanted.

Bastards.

Rants aside, the iPod just gets better and better. Powered by an incredible 1.8″ Toshiba hard drive, the new iPod is not only slimmer but also lighter than its predecessors. Just when I thought the nano was the best thing Apple ever did for the digital music players scene, they show the world what innovation is all about. Until the iPod transforms into a full-fledge PDA-phone-media player hybrid, this is the de facto media player on the planet. Period.

Aarrghhh. Decisions, decisions, decisions!

LatestApple Malaysia pricing (correct at press time):
30GB iPod for RM 1599
60GB iPod for RM 2099
Availability is unknown.

Nasal Menstrual Syndrome Revisited

This is annoying. I feel like crap. Another bout of NMS. Again, I bet this has to do with the air-conditioning. My colleague is having the same problem. We’re both trying to see who can sneeze out their lungs first. And right now, our running noses are fighting for a podium finish. The wet-tissue hill competition is also being closely contested. Seems I have a slight lead.

Aarrrgghhh.