WAYANG KATA III: AN EVENING OF SPOKEN WORD

Definitely NOT for POLTOONS (aka Police Car-toons) who expect Power Puff Grrls, Kim Possibles and Olive Oyls with Strident Voices to break his Arrogant Silence, OUCH!
Jacob Sam-La Rose – Animating Literature Through Spoken Word
Poetry is back on the menu as we welcome British poet and writer, Jacob Sam-La Rose, to perform and conduct workshops in Klang Valley from 7 to 11 March. A former Poet-in-Residence at BBC London, he has taught creative writing internationally, and has facilitated and taught workshops and extended projects through institutions such as the National Theatre, the Arvon Foundation, Spread the Word, the Roundhouse, the Barbican, as well as a range of schools across England. Jacob is also the Artistic Director of an annual teenage poetry SLAM project that works across London schools. Check out Jacob's website and note the dates below to catch him performing alongside Malaysian poets!
WAYANG KATA III: AN EVENING OF SPOKEN WORD
Jacob and our own local poets take the stage.
Date: 7 March 2007
Venue: No Black Tie, 17 Jalan Mesui off Jalan Nagasari, KL
Time: 9:00 pm
Admission: RM5 at the door
SPOKEN WORD AT THE FOOD FOUNDRY
Come watch Jacob perform alongside participants of his workshops.
Date: 10 March 2007
Venue: Food Foundry, http://www.foodfoundry.us/

BG-8, Happy Mansion, Jalan 17/13,

Petaling Jaya, Selangor (next door to Dram Projects)
Time: 4pm to 6pm
Admission: Free
PERFORMANCE POETRY WORKSHOP WITH JACOB SAM-LA ROSE
Date: 9 and 10 March 2007
Venue: Dram Projects, BG-6, Happy Mansion, Jalan 17/13, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
For more information on any of the events above, email us at http://uk.f250.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=arts@britishcouncil.org.my

MEN ARE FROM ALCATRAZ, WOMEN ARE FROM ASHRAM (PART I)

http://www.urbaneacademy.com/blog
I bumped into the gorgeous Georgina Dass and her adorable son Prashant at our neighborhood hair salon yesterday evening and she told me about her plans to write about Contemporary Casanovas (CCs, or Sissies?).
Sounds more like Cads on the Prowl to me. Then again, male bashing is one of my strong suits, if not the strongest. Blame it on my Bapak who played the role of the absentee Dad to the hilt, fighting the Colonialists and neo-Cols and chasing his dream of a Utopian Maphilindo, since I was in my Mak's womb in that tropical island then known as Temasek or SingaPura, now the Lil Red Dot. Blame it too on my Mak who had to be so strong and self-reliant and 'poisoned' my naive little mind about being financially, and emotionally, independent of men.
Then again, I would count myself lucky having them as my parents than being offered to successful men double my age by parents who only have their "best interests" for me. Now, I thought this form of white slavery had supposedly ended "sometime in the last century". Talk about taking three steps forward, and six steps back. Who would have thought a "pillar of society", a distinguished scholar from an ivy league university in the US would stoop to such transactions, even out of mercy and compassion, or is it out of spite and vindictiveness? "It stretches credulity" too to believe that graduates/undergraduates from a premier university would consider it just rewards and entitlements to be well-maintained by their modern day Svengali. Hmm ... and we thought only the Sand Monkeys and the Talebans are guilty of such activities!
www.straightdope.com/classics/a990115.html
I will continue with my ramblings on subtle forms of misogyny on another day. However, I vow to treat this subject with an even sleight of hand from here on. Til then, KN, just admit that you've been ABSOLUTELY besotted with NB for the last - only you know - how many years!
You should get down on your knees, cos I don't think she's gonna get down hers any time soon; toodles!

Tamil Thriller/Jom, ke Forum

Turn it up, yo!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbvP7dT3Dx0
p.s. kepada 'katak-katak di bawah tempurung', bahagialah hidupmu bersama Mentor yang 'mental'!
**********
GABUNGAN RAKYAT MEMBANTAH US-MALAYSIA FTA
PUBLIC FORUM ON US-MALAYSIA FTA
Bagaimana US FTA akan Memangsakan Rakyat Malaysia
Tarikh: 28/02/2007
Masa :8.00pm
Tempat: Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Ahli Panel: Charles Santiago (Pakar Ekonomi), Dr Subramaniam(Pengerusi, Gabungan Membantah Penswastaan PerkhidmatanKesihatan), Letchimi (Aktivis Pekerja,JERIT), Lim Li Ching (Third World Network), Che Aini (Petani), Mah (People Living With Aids).
Hadirlah forum ini untuk mengetahui bagaimana US FTA ini akan menjejaskan kehidupan kita dan generasi akan datang.
Untuk maklumat lanjut sila hubungi: Kohila : 019-2275982
Dianjurkan oleh Gabungan Rakyat Membantah US-Malaysia FTA
Community Development Centre (CDC)
No.72B, Taman Sri LangatJalan Reko, Kajang, SelangorTel/Fax: 03-87370766

5,000-year-old embrace

Deleting messages from my in-box and chanced upon this:
Reuters Photo: A pair of human skeletons lie entwined at an Neolithic archaeological dig site near Mantova
Scientists to save 5,000-year-old embrace
By Phil Stewart Mon Feb 12, 9:53 AM ET
VALDARO, Italy (Reuters) - Italy won't split up its Stone Age "lovers."
In a Valentine's Day gift to the country, scientists said they are determined to remove and preserve together the remains of a couple buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in an enduring embrace.
Instead of removing the bones one-by-one for reassembly later, archaeologists plan to scoop up the entire section of earth where the couple was buried, they told Reuters.
The plot will then be transported for study before being put on display in an Italian museum, thereby preserving the world's longest known hug for posterity.
*************************************************************************************
Now, I recalled being told that "not only til death do us part, but even in death, u will cling"; wonder who's my lucky CLING-ON?

TAG ME, TAG U

Nuraina A Samad has tagged me, so I have to tag six other bloggers and blog about six wierd things about myself.

http://nursamad.blogspot.com

Now, that should be easy; both the tagging and the listing, I mean. NOT half as difficult as deciding whether to tag or not to tag that 'arrogant silent' fella that just dropped a coded 'throw-away' sentence at u or gave u that 'come-hither' look; and before u know it, poof! he's GONE and, hey presto! he's back and flaunting some brash and bold u-know-whats in your own neighbourhood and right smack under your very nose! Talk about feeling rejected before even uttering a word - now that is WIERD, and what a WUSS; but that's a topic for another day.

In any case, here's a lazy girl's guide to tagging and listing:

1. Go to your buddy's blogroll, scroll and take a pick. I went to my buddy Sheih's blogroll http://kickdefella.wordpress.com/, and tagged aisehman http://www.aisehman.org/, A Voice http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.com/, Black's http://blackinkorea.blogspot.com/, Critical Thoughts http://www.menj.org/, So, what now? http://acciaccatura.wordpress.com/, and still persuading Sheih to agree to admit and share his idosyncrasies.

2. Get your nearest and dearest to make the list for u, and, Bingo! Here u go,

> likes to dance incoherently, all of a sudden
> hyper sensitive to coffee/caffiene, unpredictable behavior - beware!
> likes to talk during the best parts, while watching a tv show
> thinks aloud/talks to herself and thinks nobody notices
> has a unique sense of dressing

> goes 'huh' at least 3 times before she hears your question
"All the imperfections equals perfection"

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!

The Holiday and The Secret

www.sonypictures.com/movies/theholiday

What better way to spend a long weekend than watching 'feel good' chick flicks?
In The Holiday, Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swap homes and lives over Christmas holidays and across the Atlantic. Diaz gets to shag Jude Law just hours after arriving at the picture perfect English cottage while Winslet gets to befriend an octogenarian neighbour, Eli Wallach, in sunny California – NO FAIR! Winslet, however, does get her share of romance with nutty composer Jack Black, but still - NO FAIR. And to think she is the most believable of all the characters.
Employing the same old formulae from other romantic movies like Sleepless in Seattle, writer-director Nancy Meyer (What Women Want and Something's Gotta Give) resorts to “references to classic movies, quirky neuroses (Diaz can't cry; Law is a weeper!), rushing to and from airports and gratuitous dancing and air-guitaring to pop songs”.

And do watch The Secret for that desirable breakthrough in your life!

http://www.thesecret.tv

The Prestige: An Obsession with Illusion

IS and I, an item, be it Christmas, New Year or Valentine's Day.

Dinner from the poolside cafe and a thriller of a dvd.

IS's taste in lit, music and movie is eclectic, which suits me fine.

Obsession is the key to the magic of The Prestige. The obsessive rivalry between two struggling magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) builds a taut suspense that ends in a riveting climax. Set in Victorian London, the movie captures the dark side of the city in stark contrast to the lure of the stage lights, the spirit of scientific consciousness and the wonders of new discoveries at the turn of the century.

Nolan's adaptation of Priest's best-selling novel takes us on a rollercoaster narrative that makes us want to play back the critical scenes as soon as the end credits roll. What is Illusion and what is Reality? Who is the Man in the Box and who is the Prestige? Is the key to the Ultimate Illusion worth all that energy, time and money?

The supporting cast, comprised of Michael Caine, Scarlet Johansson and Andy Serkis, gave sterling performances. Even David Bowie appears as the enigmatic genius, Nikola Tesla.
http://www.hmv.co.uk

Leningrad at KLCC

I'm certainly no connoisseur of high culture, more of a scholar of pop cult. So, never could have thought that Classical Music and Communism can be 'comrades in arms'. Until I had the pleasure of listening to Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 at the Dewan Philharmonic Orchestra last Sunday.

http://www.naxos.com

My Funny Valentine

Sweet comic valentine

You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable, unphotographable

Yet you're my favorite work of art

Is your figure less than greek

Is your mouth a little bit weak

When you open it to speak, are you smart

Don't, baby don't

Don't change you hair for me

Not if you care for me

Stay little valentine stay

Each day is valentine's

http://www.links2love.com
I don't know of this version by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, but I do remember the version made famous by Raja Din Wan Mat, a winner of Bintang RTM in the early 1970s, if I'm not mistaken.

Love's supposed to be in the air, but IS told me last nite that his love life is in a 'fragile' state and NI vehemently replied 'No One' when I asked who could her Valentine be.

Which reminds me that sometimes we are oblivious, doubtful or hesitant, about the identity of the Harlequin who had pinned his heart at the door of his Columbine. Now, if we only have the nerve of the character in Gaiman's Fragile Things who cut up the heart into small pieces and chewed them so she could see her invisible suitor, command him, assume his identity and leave him as a kitchen help with just a shred of confidence to approach the waitress! Dream on ...

http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/books/fragilethings

And while we're in the realm of dreams, ladies, who could possibly be your dream guy or Valentine?
http://www.realmofdreams.com
Hans Isaac? Ashraf Sinclair? Or Yusry KRU?

I'm being nationalistic here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

COSMIC DECEPTIONS/CHARISMA KITCHEN

It was over lunch last Friday afternoon that my dear friend, Sherina Timms, the propreitor of Charisma, the Mediterranean restaurant with a cause, proposed that we anoint ourselves as "high priestesses" of Cosmic Healing.

Before we could heal ourselves and others, just what are the Cosmic Deceptions that we have allowed ourselves to be deluded with?

According to Sherina, they are Spritual, Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical, Communal, Environmental, Dietary, Health and Educational Deceptions.

Now, I do sound like the school marm that I am, but let us begin the healing process with the humble salt. For those who cook at home, we just need to replace the processed sodium chloride with unrefined grey sea salt (the coarse type that my late mother used to keep in her porcelain jar by the stove).

www.eco-natural.com/greysalt/saltquiz.html

But you may then ask: What about spoilt 'gods' and 'goddesses' like moi, inc? How can we get the mamak stalls and 'warong makciks' to use iodised salt? Hmm ... maybe we should go buy ourselves and give it to them? And slowly ease them into the wonders of natural cane sugar, virgin olive oil, and fresh, green leafy vegetables. Wouldn't that be revolutionary? And certainly easier than organising a Malaysian chapter of the Slow Food movement, no?

For supplies of organic food, check out http://www.kevala.co.uk.

To test your sugar knowledge, visit http://www.sugarindia.com/sugartest.htm.

To start a Malaysian chapter of the Slow Food Movement, go to http://www.slowfood.com/

Want to know more about the benefits of the humble sea salt and more, dine and chat with Sherina Timms at Charisma, B-G-07, Jalan SS6/20, Dataran Glomac, Pusat Bandar Kelana Jaya (tel: 03-7806-1396) for Valentine's Day Special or Gong Xi Fa Cai's "Yee Shang".

The Magic of Thinking Big

Finally, now showing on this blog - The Magic of Thinking Big by David Scwartz!
Guess nothing works better than subtle pressure to make me work my lazy brain and bod, zewt. Sure, I can always blame it on the deadlines at the office, the horribly hot weather caused by the drought that just sapped my energy away, the caffeine withdrawal symptom, the this and that. In any case, I'm half way thru reading this gem of a book, and boy, do I find some worthy insights to share with you. And, since old habits die hard, it's difficult to suppress the "stealth bomber", the "guerilla critic" in me from making the usual counter-arguments to the author's recommendations!
For starters or teasers, here are a couple of questions for you:
Would you Think Big if it makes you Feel Small?
Should Thinking Big necessarily translates into Big House, Big Car, Big Bank Balance, Big Partner?
There are no right or wrong answers; thinking about it, make it so. Tata for now!

The Oxford Experience, KL Tower, 2/2/07

Boy, was I excited when NI asked me if I was interested to go for The Oxford Experience, a "Networking Dinner" to award medals and certificates to "achievers" or "members" of the Oxford Association of Management, UK.
www.oxim.org
And wow, does it manage to enrol local celebrities such as Yusri (KRU), (Dr) Fazly, Nizal (TV3) and Ashraf Sinclair as part of their distinguished members.
However, coming from the old school of scholars, I have mixed feelings about the type of "Blended Learning Methods" that institutes such as OXIM subscribes to. Sure, I agree that university curricula and methodologies should adapt to the changing times and that professionals and entrepreneurs who made it inspite of not having the privilege of a tertiary education should be duely recognised, but I still think that Philosophy, History and Theory have their place in the cosmic scheme of things and should not be thrown out the window. And conversely, 'practical hands-on experience' has to be supported by a solid corpus of knowledge in the field.
May be continued ...
P.S. To Life-long Learners such as A Voice, http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.com/, 'Reservation Required' for this learning experience, and mind you, it's no 'Pariah Weekened', kah kah kah - The Undomestic Goddess