Monday, December 24, 2007

Al-Fatihah


24/12/07, 12.45 am, kami kehilangan seseorang yg amat disayangi - Arwah Mamachik @ MC.. Aku kenal arwah taklah lama.. tak smpai setahun pun.. tp 1st time jmpa MC, kitorg dah click.. mcm dah kenal lama.. and since then, we had the same group of friends yg slalu hang out sama2 & bercerita2 ttng bnyk benda.. MC is a very wise & generous person yg selalu nasihatkan kami spt adik2 dia sendiri.. sejak mula kenal MC, arwah dah mmng sakit.. but at that time, it doesn't seem serious.. but it became worse as time goes by.. semalam petang, aku bersama Lia & Ely decided to visit her at the hospital.. never in a million years would we thought that that would be the last time we will ever see her.. malamnya, arwah menghembuskan nafas terakhir.. masa kami jumpa arwah ptg tu, her physical seems very week, she's very thin and we cried when she opened her eyes.. arwah pegang tangan Ely & kata jgn nangis.. she said something like not to worry coz she'll recover in 10 days.. and that's how strong her wills are.. dlm pada keadaan fizikal dia yg lemah, she can still stand up & berjalan2 on her own feet dgn kami sepanjang2 wad oncology tu.. she said she wanted to go home.. we cried coz there's nothing that we can do about it.. when we were about to leave, Ely said 'we love you very much', and she replied something but i couldn't really hear it.. Ely said she saw MC's eyes mcm nak mengalir air mata.. we got back, and prbbly around 12+ i fell asleep in front of my notebook.. at around 1.00am, i received a shocking text message saying that MC had passed away.. i called Ely ajak pegi HKL.. once i put down the phone, i burst into tears, and along the way to fetch Ely, i cried so hard.. (i still am while writing this).. this afternoon, arwah selamat dikebumikan.. semuanya berjalan lancar tanpa sebarang masalah.. Alhamdulillah..
tinggal kenangan..

Sampai saat ni aku mm x percaya arwah dah tak ada.. baru ptg smlm aku jmpa & cium arwah.. mcm mimpi arwah dah x ada.. utk kwn2ku semua yg mengenali arwah especially Zet, Ely, Abby, Nurul, Yus, Lia & EJ, kita semua sayangkan MC, tp Allah lebih sayangkannya.. Arwah dah pergi.. sama2lah kita berdoa semoga roh arwah dicucuri rahmat & ditempatkan di kalangan orang2 yang soleh.. aku & rakan2 akan merindui arwah yg sgt2 kami sayangi.. Al-Fatihah..

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Live n Loud KL, Jazz Nite
Zouk, KL


Noryn Aziz as the opening act

This is a very delayed posting.. nevertheless, just wanted to share with you guys some of the pics & my experience at the Jazz Nite for Live n Loud KL, 2007 held at Zouk KL.. first and foremost props to my friend, Kak Aida for these pictures.. so i went there with Kak Aida & Abg Fred, Tasha and Kak Lis.. obviously the reason i went there is to watch my favourite indonesian act, Tompi perform.. but then, i like all three performers including Noryn Aziz & Maliq & D'essentials.. so it's definitely a worthy show.. the show kicked of with Noryn performing some of her originals like Cerita Cinta, Make It On My Own, Lara as well as covers of popular jazz tunes.. Noryn displayed great vocal skills & good interaction with the crowd.. a great start for a great evening..

Maliq & D'Essentials..

Maliq & D'Essentials took the centre stage next.. most of the young girls (including Tasha!) were there obviously to watch them perform.. what's interesting is that, their album were not even marketed & promoted officially here, yet they have tonnes of fans in Malaysia.. that's incredible.. Anyhow, this group certainly know how to work the crowd.. they not only sing, but dance along to the tune and teased the crowd with their interesting moves & gimmicks..

Amar was amazing on trumpet!
Angga & Indah dancing gracefully at the back..


Angga & Indah as the lead vocals engaged the crowd very well with their fine vocals.. and their backup musicians played very good music especially Amar on saxophone & trumpet.. he also play the keyboard! They sang songs from their debut & sophomore album including Terdiam, Kangen, Sampai Kapan & Heaven.. they also did a cover of the Earth Wind & Fire song - September.. great session by Maliq & D'essential..!

Tompi & one of his fan - Juliana Aziz!

And finally, the moment i've been waiting for, Tompi's time to perform.. yeayy..!! Needless to say, Tompi never fails to mesmerize the crowd with his powerful, soulful & unique voice.. you'd be impressed once you see him perform.. especially when he does the scat thingy.. it's amazing..! Some of the songs that he performed were My Music, Selalu Denganmu, I'm Falling In Love & Lulu dan Siti.. he also did some covers including a Stevie Wonder song and also a spontaneous rendition of Antara Anyer & Jakarta orginally sung by Sheila Majid who was also present in crowd..

Tompi sang with his favourite Malaysian artiste (mine too!) -
Dayang Nurfaizah


And surprise2, Dayang was also in the crowd..!! Tompi invited his favourite Malaysian artiste - Dayang (i didn't made this up, that is what exactly Tompi said!) on-stage to sing with him.. they did an impromptu duet of the song Isn't She Lovely, a Stevie Wonder song.. marvellous duet..!! well, they've dueted a couple of times before, and i must say they have an amazing chemistry & Tompi is probably one of Dayang's best duet partner..

Overall, this was a spectacular showcase that i enjoyed very much.. for me, probably one of the best night for Live n Loud KL.. all three performers did amazingly well.. definitely a night to remember..! i just love it..!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

ANAK HALAL
Filem Melayu Mesti Tonton !

Atas pelawaan Ajami, aku pegi tgk wayang Anal Halal di GSC Pavillion Ahad lepas.. mmng tak mengharap sgt pd awalnya sbb faham2 la filem Melayu kan.. kbnyknnya dibuat untuk tujuan komersil.. buat filem utk penonton2 yg dtg nak tgk.. dan aku mengakui, aku tak termasuk dlm kelompok sasaran pembikin filem komersil ni.. kalau aku nak gi tgk filem Melayu, pertama skali aku akan tgk siapa pengarahnya.. bukan bersikap prejudis terhadap pembikin2 filem lama, tapi kalau filem yg dibikin sekadar utk cari untung, tak ambil kira realiti kehidupan, tak menuntut khalayak berfikir, hanya menghidangkan lawak slapstik yg tak membina minda, tak menjana mesej yg boleh dinilai baik buruknya, bagi aku filem tu tak berbaloi utk ditonton..

Pengarah - Osman Ali bersama 2 watak utama -
Farid Kamil & Maya Karin


So aku tabik pada pembikin2 filem baru yg penuh dgn idea segar dan ambil kira semua faktor2 di atas, bukan teknik & bujet besar yg diutamakan.. antara mereka sudah semestinya Yasmin Ahmad, Ho Yu Hang, Bernard Chauly, Osman Ali dan ramai lagi yg kini dah mula masuk aliran mainstream.. begitu juga Afdlin Shauki & Shuhaimi Baba, pembikin filem mainstream yg mana idea mereka lari dr konsep stereotype filem melayu.. aku berterima kasih pada mereka2 ni yg menarik semula orang2 mcm aku yg skeptikal dgn filem2 melayu utk kembali tonton wayang..

Penggambaran adegan cubaan rogol Fauzi Nawawi ke atas Raja Farah

Berbalik pada filem Anak Halal, pertama2 skali syabas kepada penerbit Gayatri Su-Lin Pillai (Tayangan Unggul Sdn Bhd), pengarahnya Osman Ali & semua krew yg terlibat kerana berjaya menghasilkan filem yg berjaya menggabungkan nilai2 komersil dan artistik dgn sgt baik sekali.. plot ceritanya mudah - tentang kehidupan segolongan anak muda yg disalah erti sebagai anak2 liar, akhirnya terjebak dalam kancah dadah akibat kesempitan hidup, akhirnya memakan diri sendiri akibat kesilapan yg tidak pernah dirancang..

Penggambaran adegan cemas Fasha Sandha jatuh dr bangunan tinggi

Tetapi yang menariknya cerita ni adalah aspek kehidupan dan realiti yg diterapkan dlm filem ni.. filem ini terasa begitu dekat dgn penonton.. w'pun mungkin rata2 khalayak drp kelas sosial yg berbeza drp kumpulan anak2 muda yg dipaparkan dlm filem ni, tapi tidak janggal dan terasa seperti kawan2 shj.. bak kata Jo (Maya Karin), zaman antara dua darjat ni dah lapuk la.. siapa saja boleh kwn dgn siapa saja tanpa mengira darjat.. Kupasan ttng realiti permasalahan sosial dlm filem ni jg tampak 'real' dan logik..

Salah satu adegan Farid Kamil bersama Dato' Aziz Sattar

Lakonan dlm filem ni juga sgt cemerlang.. semua pelakon2 filem ni sama ada watak utama mahupun tambahan, semuanya membantu menghidupkan jalan cerita.. tiada satu watakpun yang dibazirkan.. Farid Kamil, Maya Karin & Fasha Sandha selaku teraju utama menghidangkan lakonan cemerlang.. lakonan Maya menampakkan perbezaan berbanding lakonannya yg sblm ini.. Farid Kamil bersahaja sekali.. Fasha dgn aksi manjanya sgt menjadi.. Adi Putra, Raja Farah & Bront Palare dlm watak pembantu jg memainkan peranan masing2 dgn penuh kesan.. pelakon2 tambahan spt Rosyam Nor, Zulhuzaimy, Jehan Miskin, Remy Ishak, Fauzi Nawawi, Fizz Fairuz, Kartina Aziz, Dato' Aziz Sattar, Ahmad Tarmimi Siregar & Mislina Mustafa jg wajar diberi pujian.. jika ada anugerah 'ensemble', pelakon2 Anak Halal seharusnya memberi saingan paling sengit..

Sekumpulan rakan2 yg disalah tafsir -
Maya, Raja Farah, Bront, Remy, Adi Putra & Farid Kamil

Keseluruhannya, Anak Halal sebuah produksi yg cemerlang dr segenap aspek - olahan cerita, arahan seni & lakonan.. aspek teknikal juga baik.. sinematografi menarik, suntingan juga tidak mengelirukan w'pun terdpt serba sedikit tanda tanya yg akhirnya terjwb di akhir cerita.. tahniah kpd pihak produksi, satu garapan yang cemerlang dan harus ditonton oleh peminat filem Malaysia..!!

Kumpulan antagonis : Fizz Fairuz, Jehan Miskin & Fauzi Nawawi

Sinopsis

Hisham (Rosyam Noor), seorang penjenayah dalam keadaan tersepit telah menyerahkan bayi lelakinya kepada Mariam (Mislina Mustafa), seorang perempuan gila. Penjenayah tersebut telah ditangkap dan dipenjarakan. Mariam yang gila dan hidup di jalanan membesarkan bayi tersebut Indraputra/Putra (Farid Kamil) dalam serba kedaifan. Mereka tinggal di kawasan setinggan, berjiran dengan Bu Leha dan anak perempuannya, Johanna/Jo (Maya Karin) seorang gadis lasak yang dalam diam menyukai Putra. Namun, kebahagiaan Putra bersama ibunya berakhir apabila mereka dipisahkan oleh pihak berkuasa.

Adegan pergaduhan yg mencemaskan..

Putra kemudiannya dibesarkan oleh Bu Leha (Kartina Aziz) yang membawa Putra dan Jo berpindah ke Kuala Lumpur dengan harapan hidup mereka akan menjadi lebih baik. Putra dan Jo membesar sebagai remaja jalanan. Putra bekerja di bengkel kereta. Manakala, Jo dan ibunya berniaga buah-buahan di Pasar Chow Kit demi sesuap nasi.

Adegan Remy Ishak ditembak dalam pergaduhan

Manakala, Erzan (Adi Putra) dan Amira Atikah (Fasha Sandha) pula adalah antara sahabat rapat Putra dan Jo. Mereka telah terjebak dengan penggunaan najis dadah akibat tekanan dan desakan hidup. Amira Atikah yang ketagihan dadah telah melarikan diri dari rumah. Selain mengedar dan menagih dadah, Erzan yang terpaksa menanggung beban hutang tinggalan ayahnya telah menjadi buruan kuncu-kuncu Hisham. Putra begitu sedih dan marah. Putra naik berang pada Hisham dan kuncu-kuncu yang telah menjadi punca kepincangan hidup orang-orang yang disayanginya.

Cinta 3 segi?? Tiga sekawan - Maya Karin, Farid Kamil & Fasha Sandha

Berjayakah Putra membalas dendam terhadap Hisham dan kuncu-kuncunya ? Bertemukah Putra dengan Mariam, wanita yang telah membesarkannya ? Saksikan ‘Anak Halal’ sebuah filem realiti kepincangan masyarakat yang telah mula tayangannya di pawagam seluruh tanah air bermula 13 Disember 2007. Filem yang mesti ditontoni semua..!!!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

BDN's Movie Gathering
The Golden Gompass [TGV Berjaya Times Square]

Pertama2 skali aku nak ucap mekacih kpd organizer iaitu cik kuden @ Adreen sbb susah payah arrange this event.. and props to you for the lovely goodies.. hopefully one day we can meet eye to eye.. =) Anyway blog readers, for those wondering what this is all about, well it's actually a wayang gathering with friends from komuniti BDN or Bincang.net - an online forum to discuss about anything & everything.. i was hooked to it once i joined them.. the thing is, members of BDN not only post & read, but they gather, meet up, play bowling, watch movies & other sort of activities together.. so it's quite fun la.. plus, the peeps from BDN are all happening & sporting kinda people.. altho' i'm relatively new to the group, but i felt like i've known these people for years.. and i'm glad & happy to be part of the group..

Back row from left: Rumizu, Mimi, Fatin, Deida, Fir, Ain, Ina, (unknown), Front row: Myo, Judd, Asrul, Hrya & Emy...

Credits to my fren, Deida yg introducekan aku dgn BDN ni.. citenye mcm ni.. one day, dia ajak aku join training bowling kat BTS ngan geng2 BDN coz we were about to enter a tournament in few days.. since aku pun xde partner nak train, so aku pun join le diorg.. semuanya adalah members of the BDN community.. then Deida ni pun cite2 la kat aku psl group ni.. and that night after abis bowling, lepak mapley, balik rumah, online terus create account.. and i'm hooked since then.. haha.. so skrg ni almost every week we will meet up to bowl.. and once in a while gi minum and karaoke..

Bowling after wayang, from left : Yg kiri skali tu x ingat le nama, ina, hrya, deida, myo, judd, fatin, fir & rumizu

And last Saturday, they organised a wayang gathering.. we watched The Golden Compass.. some of them aku tak penah jumpa mcm Rumizu, Fir, Hrya, Ina.. jmpa dlm forum je.. so it's a pleasure to meet you guys.. someday, kita lepak & borak panjang2 lagi ok..! Cik Bintang @ Ain lak ghopenya aku dah penah jmpa b4 this tgk movie ngan geng2 Budiey.. and then there were the regulars like Deida, Myo, Fatin, Emy, Asrul, Finyz.. after abis tgk movie, gi lepak2 makan kat foodcourt.. some left after that, and some of us stayed to bowl at Ampang Superbowl.. so gitulah citenye gathering ni.. Mekacih kpd pasangan Rumizu & Fir for these pics..! =)

So apa cite The Golden Gompass ni??


Hmm.. aku x nak review filem ni sbb aku pun x reti cemana nak review.. i was confused as everyone else.. cite ni ala2 LOTR (producer yg sama) tp at least LOTR kita faham pucuk pangkalnya cite tu, apa mission yg nak dicapai oleh fellowship, tp cite ni smpai end of the show pun aku tak faham motif org yg baik & jahat dlm cite ni.. fening2.. yg jelas hanyalah perjalanan sorg budak ni bersama kwn2nya utk ke satu tempat di mana perjalanannya penuh dgn onak & duri.. tu je.. dahle Eva Green & Daniel Craig skejap2 je muncul.. and spoiler, cite ni tak habis, so tunggula sambungannya.. (itupun kalau ada sbb kat US cite ni x laku).. so sape nak rasa kefeningan, gi la tgk cite ni.. i would not recommend ppl to watch this, but if u guys suka tgk cite fantasy plus cinematography & shot2 yg cantik boleh le layan.. peace..
Happy Birthday Asrul @ Iori Yagami !!

Slamat hari jadi bro..!! sungguh ceria insan yg bernama Asrul aka Iori ni.. aku kenal dia drp BDN.. and dia la org pertama dlm BDN (excluding mek Deida sbb aku dah lama kenal) yg sgt le ramah dgn aku masa 1st taim jmpa.. so thnx bro.. apa2 pun, happy birthday to you.. semoga panjang umor murah rezki.. nanti aku belanja main bowling.. kalau menang jackpot, ko plak blanje aku.. hehe..!!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Live n Loud KL 2007
Accoustic Nite

Sorry for the delay.. i wasn't in the mood of blogging for the past couple of days.. been very very lazy to update.. anyway, here are some stories on LnL KL 2007.. this one is for Accoustic Nite featuring Dayang Nurfaizah, Rick Price & James Morrison held at KL Convention Centre..

I went there for obvious reason - Dayang.. although dah selalu tgk dia perform, and almost all of the songs performed that night i've already heard her sing live, but it's not always that you get a chance to see your favourite artiste performing alongside international singers.. plus, i believe the venue, sound system & everything are of international standard, so the satisfactory level must be higher.. so i think it's worth the money la.. and Rick Price & James Morrison aren't bad either..!! these two are equally amazing performers..!!

So the show kicked off with Dayang as the opening act.. she sang Kasih as the opening number followed by Hurt made popular by Christina Aguilera.. i've heard her sing this song a couple of times, but inarguably this was the best version ever..!! then she sang 3 of my favourite Stevie Wonder songs - Overjoyed, My Cherie Amour and You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.. Before closing her half hour set with Dayang Sayang Kamu, she entertained the crowd with Hilang given a jazz twist arranged by her genius musical director, Jenny Chin..

Of course, kalau nak diikutkan mmng rasa sgt tak puas coz it was only a half hour set, but that was all that they gave her and she made the most of it.. and she tackled the crowd effortlessly.. her communication skills improved by the days.. good for her.. and Dayang was cutely dressed in a knee-length sparkling dress designed by Syaiful Baharim..

Rick Price took centre stage as the 2nd act.. there is only one Rick Price song that i know of which i believe applies to everyone else.. the song is none other than Heaven Knows.. so after he finished the first 3 or 4 songs, i was hoping the next one would be Heaven Knows coz i know that when he sings the song, it will be the closing number.. not that i don't like his performances, just that the songs weren't familiar to my ears so it's a bit difficult to enjoy his performance.. But undeniably, Price is very talented singer & musician.. his vocals are awesome, it's amazing how he could maintain that same voice we heard years and years ago (unlike that one particular diva!) up until today.. owh, and his cover of Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me is probably one of the best rendition of that song i've ever heard of..

Finally, the stage is all James Morrison's.. most people i believe bought the tickets just to watch him perform.. i've no idea where his fans came from.. i never realised Morrison is that huge here in Malaysia.. of course i know his popular songs, and i also listen to his album which is amazing, but i never expected the tremendous support he'll get for the show..

Throughout the entire performance, the girls went wild and kept yelling "We love you James!" time and time again.. nak kata handsome, from my eyes i don't really think so.. but after i watched him perform live before my eyes, now i understand why.. ppl (esp. girls) just melt listening him throw his amazing vocals out loud.. yes, he has such incredible vocal pipes.. even i was impressed..!! he sang all his hits from his debut album, Undiscovered as well as several covers.. after he sang his last number, the crowd screamed & yelling begging for an encore.. of course, he abode by singing My Last Goodbye..

All in all, this was an amazing show.. all three performers delivered extremely well.. i'm glad i came & it's definitely worth the ticket price..!! And thanks to Jinggo for these wonderful pics.. all of us forgot to bring along our cameras, bummer..!!