Wednesday, March 21, 2007

REALITY IS TV

I finally made it to the Bloggers' Mee Rebus session at Kafe4Teen opposite the Masjid Bulat in Section 14, PJ, yesterday afternoon.
Now I know that Shanghai Fish is neither from Shanghai nor a Fish, FreeLunch2020 does not wearing diapers, has a pacifier in her mouth or a rattle in her hand; Zorro doesn't wear a mask nor carry a whip wherever he goes; Clark Gable is quite dashing and debonair but in the wrong profession, plus a doting father too; BUT Big Dog is BIG, man!
And, honestly, I've never met a guy who has complete collections of sitcom series, both English and American, plus Rowan Atkinson aka Mr Bean's unabridged conpendium. And he can memorise lines from most of the programs, too. His knowledge about aeronautics and near-experience in sky diving are, of course, shared with good friends.
And, Big Guy, like Clark Gable, I find myself concerned about your health too. You know, that nightly diet of Reality is TV and/or the Internet between 10PM-4AM is certainly NOT good for your health. You need to get enough sleep and all that.
And since you spent a hugh chunck of your time viewing and surfing and memorising lines, why not convert that to cash, my good friend?
At any rate, my former chief reporter at BH, Saad Hashim, was also there. He, too, shares Big Dog's love of British sitcoms. I felt almost like in my favourite sitcom, Cheers, with smart and sassy Nuraina (3540 Jalan Sudin) and Maria A. Samad as Diane and Carla look-alikes, Big Dog as Norman, maybe Rocky as Sam, Clark Gable as Frasier Crane, and of course nobody wants to be Cliff, or is it Clive? Help me out on this, Big Dog!

11 comments:

Jorji said...

bloggers also got gathering ka? me only like meekari.

Clark Gable of Pulau Duyong said...

Dear QueenB,
Thanks for dropping by.It was indeed like meeting of old friends.
Pak Saad was a surprise meet but a very pleasant one for me too.

Kafe4Teen is indeed a pleasant place ..kedai dah nak tutup and yet we still continue talking hahaha

Clark Gable of Pulau Duyong said...

Dear QueenB,
Thanks for dropping by.It was indeed like meeting of old friends.
Pak Saad was a surprise meet but a very pleasant one for me too.

Kafe4Teen is indeed a pleasant place ..kedai dah nak tutup and yet we still continue talking hahaha

Anonymous said...

The mail man aka mr-knows-it-all (actually, he always gets his trivia facts, wrong!) is Cliff Claven. The man is never married and still lives with his mom.

Well, what can I say (as they all say!): "Life's a bitch!"

"Its a doggie-eats-dog world, out there!"

"Just another dogface!"

Hahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahaa

I'm the New Yorker or Chicago kinda dogperson, those kinda appear on 1901's menu. Yum, yum!

Some of the TV sitcoms, reflect the common lifestyle of middle America. Remember "Rosanne" and "Cheers"? Not too long ago were "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place", "Friends" etc. Nowadays, "I'm still standing" and "King of Queens".

"Frasier" talks about our daily compulsions and obsessions, over the pettiest of uneventful issues.

In the UK, then was "Fawlty Towers". Later came "Only Fool and Horses" and "The Two Ronnies". In the eighties were the "Yes, Minister", later "Yes, Prime Minister" and "Blackadder" series. Not forgetting "The New statesman", starring Rik Mayall depict the absolute arse MP, "Alan B'stard". Few years back was the surreal dark comedy, "The Office" and "Absolutely Fabulous". Now is "My Family".

These series somehow depicts the colours and fabric of the common lifestyle, in their respective places.

These are real. People actually live like these stories. The shows trot and thread on the issues people go through, every day.

That's REALITY. And now, its being "tv-ised". Television made all these stories, re-told (in humour, of course!) and we see ourselves in the characters and our lives flash on TV.

If that's not the REAL "Reality TV", so what is? Text msging contest on TV????

A Voice said...

Maria Samad as Carla? My my ... you are mean. She can't be, Maria is as pretty and nice as Diane. So Diane will be a toss up between the sisters.

Clark Gable suit for Dr Fraser Crane ... heheheh

Cliff ... hmmm he must be a postman, or messenger or deliverer of something. Cliff is one of those wise guy with loads of information and trivia, usually wrong in his fact or conclusion.

Can't be me.

I was in the other table teasing Tony Pua to run back home for ADUN Senggarang, Batu Pahat agst a formidable UMNO candidate that could actually be just a songkok wearing rubber tree.

BaitiBadarudin said...

I don't mean that caustic, ascerbic tongue of Carla's, but more of her unpretentiousness.
Clark is custom-made for Frasier Crane, I agree.
No takers for Cliff, yet.
Will include you in a report on the MT's Bloggers' Meet, which I haven't found the time to do.
No offence, amigo?

BaitiBadarudin said...

Thanks for the 'trivia', BigDog.
What about: "Life's a bitch, then we die?"
You sure fit the New Yorker or Chicago-er spokesperson for 1901!
And your insights on American as well as English TV sitcoms resonate the findings of cult stud research about "everyday lived culture".
You should write your doctoral thesis on popular sitcoms and audience identification with the characters and their own 'lived' realities, and probably conclude that that's part of a grand depoliticisation scheme, i.e. trivialization, mundaneness, meaninglessness, apathy, etc.
Try reading "Watching Dallas", "Nationwide Study", Morley, Fiske and all those cult stud scholars if you have the time.
Text msging contests on TV is purely to make fast bucks.

BaitiBadarudin said...

Dear Clark Gable,
I was glad I did.
Haven't met Saad Hashim for, God knows, how many years.
I like Kafe4Teen; it's close by and the food's good too!
Lain kali, kena datang awal sikit lah.

BaitiBadarudin said...

Dear Jorji,
It's on Tuesdays - Malaysian lunchtime, i.e. 11AM to 3:30PM.
Kak Maria serves great Mi Bandung too. Mai lah tang tu!

Anonymous said...

Write a PhD thesis???? Oh no! not in this lifetime!



I took almost six bloody years just to write and complete my MBA dissertation (after three failed proposals). Almost resorted to plagiarism (I am lucky I did not!).

Finally, I managed to complete a Master's Degree, which result and award, printed on high quality watermark paper, actually meant nothing to me.

At this stage, I am no loner employable!

So much similar to Norman Petersen's life story.

BaitiBadarudin said...

But more to your life than Norman's, though, or we won't get the Scomi story and other stuff!