The Story of Stuff

Whilst going through my Google Reader, I came across this link on Intrepid Flame - The Story of Stuff.Go watch it. If your Internet connection's wonky like mine, you might wanna go to the Downloads page and just get the .mov file (54 MB), probably easier. What an eye-opener - it's a wake-up call to a world gone consumption crazy. Sure, it's targeted towards the US, but the rest of the world is sorely affected too. It's scary stuff, but unfortunately this is the era we're living in and like it or not, we have to take responsibility for this Earth we're living in.

Here are a few teaser videos:

Check it out. And don't keep buying so much crap.

Gaining political awareness in Malaysia

Perhaps its the coming General Elections. Perhaps its our recently celebrating our 50th anniversary of Independence. Perhaps its the coming of age of youth who are getting disaffected by the way things are running, the way things have been run.

The timing is nevertheless appropriate. The rate of secular decline is shocking. The rate of ethical decline is appalling. The rate of political decline is embarassing. Turkey has recently stated an interest in "never turning into another Malaysia".

Free and fair elections. Transparency in governmental affairs. Less corruption, especially in the police force. Revamping the Legislature. Politicians with more integrity and backbone. Repealing laws that flagrantly flout basic human rights. Better roads and public structures. Freer press.

These are just a small list of 'wishes' by the people of Malaysia. Yes, we have things good here. Yes, we should be and are, for the most part, thankful for what we have. Yes, things could be much worse.

However, we, the people of Malaysia, want more. Better. We see Malaysia as the beauty it could be, it should be; and not the horror that it might be, that it seems to be heading towards being. We are tired of being told that we are not ready for this or that, that we might end up in the small nightmare of racial riots, that we'd end up the pawn of American hegemony. We want to get out of the rut of being treated as children and get to know better. Know more. And ultimately, decide for ourselves.

We, the pool of talent, acumen, skills and strengths of Malaysia, want to be more involved in the building of this beautiful nation, this country that breaks our hearts by denying us the avenues to making Malaysia greater than it sees itself now. And we are beginning to make our stand, to claim our birthright and be counted as an individual in the forging of the Malaysian story.

Whatever your political inclination, voting is your responsibility as a Malaysian citizen. Right now, it is one of the very few means we have to be heard so use it! Check out voter registration status at the Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (Electoral Commission) website and if you're not already registered, go to the Post Office ASAP and get it done!!!

Nextly, if you've a Facebook account, pop on over to the VotEd group and join. Get yourself politically educated.
Another Facebook group to check out is called Deny BN 2/3 Majority in the Upcoming Elections. It is a non-partisan (not affiliated with any political party) group that has as its ultimate intention greater transparency and accountability in Parliament by virtue of wider representation. Take a gander to understand their stance, then do with the info as you see fit.

2 interesting sites to check out are:
- the meesh experience for an "activist" blog
- The Other Malaysia for news from an independent perspective

There are many more, I'm sure - do post them here if you come across them.

I'll close off with an excerpt from Tunku Abdul Rahman's speech made a day before he declared Independence:


To the youth of this country I have a message.
You have a wonderful future ahead of you.
Unlike us, you have a country free from any domination.
You grow up with your heads held high as masters in your own country.
As masters you have the privileges as well as your duties and responsibilities.
The future of this country rests on you: whether our star rises or falls, it will be due to you solely.
Therefore, be ready to serve her, to build her up and to give your life in her defence.
You and I must be determined to make Malaya a place which we shall all be proud to call home.
We have therefore a role to play and let us play it well.

- Tunku Abdul Rahman

PlayEx07 - My Experience

Looking at the banner, you know it's gonna be Geek Heaven. Then again, unlike in the West, such interests are not the sole preserve of the geek/nerd/socially-inept community here. Toys, Comics, Gadgets, Games - that just about covers the whole male population in Malaysia!

I received an invite from Nick to come cover this event, which I'll admit is rather overdue (the cover, not the invite). As a "minor" blogger. Cool stuff, I didn't know that us ickle storytellers get our own space and invites too. Here's the booth we got, which Nick (obviously) decorated:
That's a Wii they're playing. It was my first time playing one, Tennis to be exact. And IT KICKS ASS!!! Such silly fun. Tires the arm too.

I didn't quite understand the purpose of the bloggers' booth though. It had to be manned throughout the exhibition (more or less 10am - 10pm Fri - Sun), which meant Nick had LOTS of time there with Carmen and whoever else came along. Hence the Wii, and that ice box that's in the corner. Its contents may make Tennis a totally different game.

Introductory notes
I need to mention that I went on a Friday afternoon, which was the early point of the event. Some stalls were yet to be set up and there were but handfuls of people (work, school, etc). And of course, it's not quite my scene - only the games aspect appealed to me as I'm not big on toys and comics. So the Wii took up quite a bit of my time and I'll repeat that IT KICKS ASS! Also, my camera battery died on me halfway as I was taking pictures, which is kinda annoying.

Toys
I'll let the pictures speak.
Toys really abounded (no, DVDs aren't really toys but whatever). Macross, Gundam, Transformers, Star Wars, other Japanese flers I don't know, random bits and bobs of Japanese fluffy toys and kawaii toys and decorations and trinkets. Nice set of DVDs of anime and manga.

Comics
Only one stall at the point I was there, guarded by Spider-Man.

Games
New Era Interactive had a booth, selling games cheap, selling various peripherals and giving away posters for free.
My biggest temptation came in another booth, with just ONE item for sale:
Yums. RM10 discount on The Orange Box, which is the coolest packaging idea from Valve yet. Half Life is genius in a game. Christmas is coming, anyone?

Of course, someone had to set up a pseudo cyber cafe. Playing DotA (oh what imagination). Which attracts a crowd. Sheesh.
MyCNX tries to sell their latest MMORPG, Kung-Fu Legend or some nonsense like that. With girls dressed up in costumes. Which is usually a great idea, until you see the costumes. Captured below, on the right:
I'd take a better shot, but as I was checking one of them out and deciding whether or not she was cute and the costume ruined it or she was not and the costume wasn't helping, she came over and proceeded to insist I try her game out. Er, do I get a free costume?

Magazines
The only other "booth babes" were at PC.com's booth, who very reluctantly decided to pose for me here:
Hardware Magazine (HWM) were also present with a rather uninteresting display.

Education
At least they attempted some sort of education at an event called PlayEx. Below is MMU Melaka (I think)'s booth featuring their Robotics Challenge Week:
They showed a couple of hardware systems, the most identifiable one being a traffic light system (look, it counts down!). The other booth was called e-baca, which somehow seemed quite out of place at the venue. Valiant attempt though, Mak Cik.

Miscellaneous
Of course, no event is complete without the big corporate players trying to get their branding thoroughly embedded in your head. Below is Celcom's incomplete booth:
It's X-pax, which is young, hip and happening. And they were blasting 80's music once they had their sound system up. Sorry guys, but 80's music is for the slightly-not-so-young but of course very bloody hip and happening children of the 70's. Who aren't so big on your animations and MTV-style branding.

Some movie dudes also put up interesting stalls (sorry no shots): Buena Vista Columbia Tristar & Disney had a life-size revolving Wall-E model with a screen showing the trailer, while a Chinese film company had a mock-up bedroom for Steven Chow Sing Chi (sp?)'s latest movie.

Thoughts & Conclusion
Idea? Good. Point? Not so sure. I understand that it's meant to attract people interested in these things and either get them buying or at least aware of some of the other things there. And it's here that I think it missed the mark slightly.

The strength of such an event is in its turnout, and people attendance is heavily based on awareness. Tell the people, and keep telling them. This is key, as even the booth renters will feel the power of the event.

Unfortunately, I believe that this is a common problem in Malaysia - we just don't know how to create awareness enough. Not enough information dissemination. Perhaps not enough avenues and outlets of distributing information. We have so many events happening here, yet people just don't know about it.

Well done to Forward Icon for staging such an ambitious event, and all the best should you decide to do it again next year. I recommend it, if any of the above appeals to you.

When night turns to dark, thoughts turn to darkness...

... and from darkness, unto death.

Murder is acceptable. That's what society today tells us - murder is perfectly acceptable. Not in so obvious terms, of course. Hot-blooded, books say, happens all the time. Crimes of passion. Revenge. Cold-blooded, the newspapers say, is fine, everyday stuff. Bombs. War. Withholding food from famine-stricken nations. TV and film, of course, are the biggest culprits. Anybody with enough testosterone pumping through their veins (and that's not just guys) who can watch war scenes and go "YES!!!" knows this deep down within. And who watches Gladiator and not pumps their fist in victory at (especially) the final, vengeance kill?

There are days where I contemplate it. I imagine the scenario - perhaps one day it's the handbag snatcher, who knocks over an old lady whilst taking her bag, and I manage to push him off his bike. And proceed to smash his face in with his helmet. Perhaps another day it's an intruder in the house, who dares threaten my family, and I manage to grab a sharp object. A parang, preferably. And proceed to chop his fingers off. No guns for me, no sir. Iffy, sissy stuff. My gun scenario usually has me disarming the perpetrator (through a lot of sheer luck) and my torturing him for using the gun. Kneecaps, elbows, shoulders, the usual. Using the gun of course, high irony factor.

Every so often I entertain these thoughts as hot-blooded adrenaline-fueled fantasies. But when the blood rages hotter and adrenaline pumps harder, I pray for such situations. I wish to batter, maim, destroy. Reduce what was once a man into something no longer. And deliver it for sacrifice.

Because what I truly want to deliver for sacrifice is actually my own battered, maimed, destroyed body. As a message, if you will. "One man's meat is another man's poison," perhaps. Or, "Listening is love". Maybe, "Passion, drained."

But I cannot. I cannot slice my wrists and eventually crumple into an ever-expanding pool of my own blood. I cannot zoom up to 180 and smack into an oncoming lorry (anyway what if I live after? Now THAT would truly suck). I cannot dive off the roof of a high-rise. I have too much to live for, too much I want to do, too much I want to get done. Dreams to enable, dreams to build. A meaningful life.

And to throw that all away just to communicate that one (or three) message to someone? Sheesh. Talk about overkill.

Worse, the person might not even get it.


But oooohhhh isn't there such a dramatic thrill to that? Cutting your own wrists and bleeding to death in front of someone? Hmmm maybe I should write a play on that. Crikey, I like it more the more I think about it. For The Platform next year, perhaps.


Writing's so good for the soul. Assuage, that's what it does (and what a word). Thanks, blog.

Theatre: The Illusion

I was invited, in my capacity as "HR Director" for The Oral Stage, to attend the Preview Night of The Illusion at The Dram Projects last Wednesday.
Details (as well as booking contact) can be found at this Facebook Event link.
In typical TOS fashion, there's a production blog for it.
The Star did a short write-up as well.

Introduction
Firstly, to anyone wanting to watch this (and the short of this entry is, do check it out), note that it is wordy. Verbose. Many-worded. I was told that this is useful information as some people (myself included) require preparation for listening-heavy stuff. Second note is that the venue (map link) can be quite mosquito-friendly. It wasn't when I went, thankfully. Third note is that the setting's quite dark, as in under-lit. It's intentional as the setting is in a crypt of some sort.

I arrive and am duly given a rose (part of the theme of the play - life and death, that kinda thing) and a programme book. Wahey, bonus! I am ushered in by the Front-of-House, and handed over to a couple of lantern-wielding, half-naked, tattoo-bodied, double-bent-over creatures - the first 2 actors I meet, Jason and Izzat. They grunt and gesture a polite "Mind your step" and guide me to the seating area, where I am free to choose my seat. Among candle-lit gravestones, watched over by the Bomoh (magician, sorceress, witch) Batsheba. Which is the actor's name, too. I'm not a big fan of calling characters by the actor's name.

The Set
The Set Designer did a great job with the venue - it's a tiny space that's unfortunately ill-designed for theatre as it has 4 pillars smack in the middle. However, in the darkened hall littered with tombstones and candles, 4 rose vines snaked up these pillars - life and love flourishing even in the most ominous of places.

The Lights
The venue remained relatively dark throughout the play - the usual 'house lights' only a faintly noticeable brightening of the stage lights. In fact, the only change in the lights I remember was a simple shift from yellow lights to green lights to describe an illusion created by Bomoh. Perhaps more could be done with lights, but the play did not suffer for it.

The Script
The script is the free adaptation by the award-winning playwright Tony Kushner of Pierre Corneille's L’Illusion Comique. It is truly wonderful to listen to, and to read. The style is rather classical, being wordy and poetic and long-winded but very enjoyable. A great idea to utilise such a fantastic script for TOS' first full-length piece. Without gushing even more, it is enough to watch this play just to hear the script.

The Sound
Which naturally beggars the question: can you hear the actors relay this wonderful script of yours? Yes, most indeed you can. In fact, the problem may be the other extreme - that the actors are a bit too loud, too big for the space (thanks to Gavin for pointing this out to me). And in working too hard on projecting and filling the small space, they may have lost out on some vocal texture, subtleties and nuances which the script amply provides for.

The Direction
It is a welcome departure from TOS' 2 past works that I have seen (and of the 2 which I haven't I heard that they were similar in direction and style), where here it is a clear-cut theme and the focus was less on new talents but on the production as a whole. Because I enjoyed the show, I would say that the direction was good. Of course, it is the director's duty to get the best out of every actor as well, and I think he was remiss for some. Perhaps, in the end, it was a problem with casting - some people just weren't right for their roles. The other problem I had with the direction was the localization of the script. I hate inconsistent and senseless localization of scripts.

The Actors
Originally, when I first thought about the actors involved in this production, I thought they fell into 3 categories of experience: highly (lots of plays and other involvements for quite some years), medium (quite some plays for some years) and low-none (1st play to 3rd play and/or started recently). After some research, I found out that only 2 of them are highly experienced and the rest are mostly low to no experience. So let's start with the experienced buggers and give them shit first:

Mark. Coming from someone who is biased and knows him, he did a great job. Playing a character who he is not, I know he worked hard on it to make it work. Unfortunately I think he was quite miscast for the role, there being only so much one can do with a character whom one is not. More unbiased and critical voices would say (and have said) that he stretched the believability of his character.

Azmir. Playing one of the most enjoyable characters in the play (a lunatic), he did well. In fact, his character was the straightforward humour of the play. And he's an experienced lunatic. So, little to fault, except for the choice of costume (which seemed a little out of place) and the bigness of his role (which would've suited a larger venue better).

On to the lesser-experienced actors:

Jason. Playing one of the creatures of the Bomoh, who ushers the audience in, he has one of the most stage times together with...

Izzat. Playing the other creature of the Bomoh. Now these 2 are complete newbies and accomplish their task handsomely well. Perhaps the lack of lines helps but they are consistent and stay in character throughout, and that's all anyone can really ask of any ensemble.

Marvin. Playing the Amanuensis (that's fancy-talk for secretary/PA), who is more-or-less the 'top' creature of the Bomoh. He's a young fellow (17 this year) and has a little bit of experience, and a lot of potential. I remember him reading well for his audition and he did do some nice stuff on stage, but could do with good guidance and coaching. Some of the things I didn't like about his characters (he plays someone else at some point) was inconsistency, 'acting' (as compared to 'being') and THAT voice. You'll understand when you see/hear it, and you'll be too distracted to hear what he says, thinking, "Awww some poor beetle crawled in his throat and is dying a horrible death there."

Zalikha. Playing the Bomoh, she's the boss of the crypt that is the set and so has one of the most stage-times, together with her minions. For a role that has so much stage time, and is mysterious and commanding, and who effectively runs the show, AND has some of the most important lines of the play, she was unfortunately not strong enough to pull it off. A true miscast on the director's part - a relative newbie for a most demanding character, she's not ready for such a huge role yet. I know she worked hard at it, and kudos to her for that.

Ka Vee. Having the 5th most stage-time (after Bomoh and gang), he too was truly miscast. A complete newbie, playing a character who has total emotional investment in the rest of the play. I almost feel sorry for him - it must be quite overwhelming, and it was all he could do to keep things running.

Isma. Apparently Wednesday was not one of her better nights, but regardless - her performance was good enough, though she is capable of better. She plays a character not too dissimilar to her own, and would do well to stretch herself with more varied roles.

Christine. Hers was one of the more enjoyable performances that night. My only annoyance is this: "Who are you talking to?" Monologues can be such pain or pleasure, depending on how it's done.

Shamir. Another complete newbie, he too did reasonably well. He does have potential that needs further tempering. Another one I'm dying to ask, "who are you talking to?!?" And not just at monologues.

Conclusion
So there you have it: a simple story told with an interesting variety of characters - the perfect mix for a good show. Personal dissections of individual actors aside, the core of the show is solid enough to be entertaining, as long as you're not allergic to wordy plays. Hell, RM20 for a 2-hour play is true value for money! GO WATCH IT!!!

Details at this Facebook Event page, or the production blog's right sidebar if you don't have a Facebook account (get one! :P ).

Free Rice : Build Your Vocab, Help Others

Click on the banner or here to go to the site.

Basically, it's a vocabulary test and every time you get it right, they'll donate 20 grains of rice to whoever needs it. Keep playing and you can really build a nice pile of rice for that starving kid wherever. Yes, no more:

"Finish your rice!"

"But I'm full!!"

"Think about starving kids who don't even get to eat!"

"Ah, but with my kickass vocab, I've contributed 2000 grains to those kids!!"

"Oh you clever boy/girl/child, you!"

[cue cheesy music and cheesier smiles]


Every 3 right answers takes you 1 level up, every wrong answer knocks you down 1 level. The FAQ says "There are 50 levels in all, but it is rare for people to get above level 48." So of course, I mount my highest horse and go, "cheh my vocab kicks ass, I'll beat level 48."

Tonight, my best level is 43 and I'm at 2560 grains of rice. Too tired to keep trying (and I'll admit I've guessed a couple of those). Give it a shot - kick my ass and do some good!