Dear Friends,

If you received a SMS from me about a party being held on Dec 22nd, Saturday. Kindly take note of the details above & below.

For those of you who didn't receive a text from me about what you will read below, please don't feel slighted. :) Space is limited. However, if you're bored and have nothing to do and you feel like coming, give me a call and let me know first. ;)

RSVP by 18th Please!

Potential play in the making?

Ok. I've been thinking about it for the longest time. I've been wanting to write a play. Pitch it to someone to direct (or direct it myself if I have to) - and stage it. But I haven't felt strongly enough about any subject matter or idea to commit myself to the act of sitting in front of my lappie to write it. But 2 nights ago, lying awake at 3 ish am. Unable to sleep - I suddenly felt a flurry of ideas fill my head making it even more difficult for me to get any shut eye. So, I put a small portion of what was in my head in a word document.

What I did that night, I will post below - have a read - tell me what you think. Is it interesting enough to keep you watching?
_______________________________________________________

DREAMS - a potential play in the making.

Characters: Protagonist: Kit
Protagonist’s love interest: Elizabeth

Story skeleton (Tentative):
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Life happens – tears boy and girl apart.

Monologue:(As audience settles in the dark - they hear a voice)

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it was quoted that sleep and dreams are the chief nourishers of life’s great feast. Everybody dreams. If you think you don’t – you do too. You just don’t remember them. That happens.

I read on the internet that there used to be a Greek God by the name of Asclepios. There were temples built in his name all over the ancient Greece. People would travel great distances to his temples to heal themselves.

One such person was a woman by the name of Arata. She was suffering from Edema or Dropsy as it was formerly called. Arata’s Mother went to one such temple and begged Asclepios to cure Arata. Arata’s Mother slept in the temple and had the following dream:

It seemed to her that Asclepios cut off her daughter’s head and hung up her body upside down. Out of it came a huge quantity of fluid matter. Then, Asclepios took the body down and fitted the head back on the neck.

After she had seen this dream, Arata’s Mother went back home, miles away, where she found Arata in good health; she too - had the same dream.

Lights come on to reveal - Stage bare except for a tombstone in its centre.

TV’s strategically placed around theatre(off stage but where all audience can see) showing protagonist (tentatively named: Kit).

KIT: Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could look into someone’s dream? I find myself wondering what it would be like. But as with most things, I think it’ll be subjective dependent on the person doing the dreaming.

Take Eliza for instance. You see her don’t you? (Image on TVs change to that of Eliza lying in bed, sleeping) She’s lying in bed right this moment. And at right this moment, she’s dreaming of me.

She dreams me dead. I don’t blame her.

Lights go soft as Elizabeth enters stage. Till she stands facing the tombstone.

EL: Now you’ve gone and done it. You happy now? Bloody idiot. Stubborn mule. You just had to do it. I wasn’t enough. All your promises and sweet words, all gone. Like they never happened.

Elizabeth stops – unable to continue talking – clearly very sad – on the verge of breaking down.

KIT enters stage: But KIT’s voice comes from TVs’.

KIT: Eliza was the one. I knew it the moment I laid my eyes on her and I was proved correct when I started talking to her. And then she did me the utmost honour by allowing me into her world. As screwed up as I was when I met her, she always saw the best in me and she always brought the best out of me.

Everything that was ‘wrong’ with me was ‘right’ to her and when someone embraces your flaws with as much ease as they would your good qualities – you become ‘perfect’ to them. And that was how I appeared to her in her dreams – ‘perfect’.

Back to the stage:

KIT: Hi.

EL: I hate you right now. I wish I never met you. (EL is visibly distraught now.)

KIT: I don’t blame you. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being such an ass. I’m sorry for causing you pain. I’m sorry for every wrong I’ve done to you. You deserve better. You deserve more. I definitely don’t deserve you. I love you in a way I never thought I could and that’s a gift you’ve given me that will live in me always. For that, I have to thank you.

Then KIT walks over to EL and hugs her. But she does not return the hug. She just stands there.

KIT then exits stage: KIT on TV resumes talking.

KIT: She definitely saw the best in me. In real life – I would never have said or done what you just saw me do in her dream. In real life, I was good at one thing. Running away, turning my back. When I made a mistake, a really big one, I wouldn’t do the right thing and apologize. Because to me, apologizing wouldn’t make up for my mistake. Better to just walk away.

But sometimes, all a person needs to hear is, “I’m sorry.”

_______________________________________________________

So how? What do you think? Cool opening? Lame? Got you interested?

I'm out.

Wear Sunscreen.

A Baz Luhrmann song from a while back entitled Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) has a lot of corny and cliched lines of 'advice' that I would normally scoff at if told to me. But being dispensed in the form of a chill out song and the smooth soothing voice of good ole Luhrmann himself somehow managed to make those cliched pearls of advice easier to swallow. And everytime I listen to that song, I think to myself,

'Yeah - I do look good. I don't need a six pack. And Yeah I don't have to worry about the future. And Yeah, I should forget the insults and remember the compliments. And Yeah, I should be more mindful of what I do with my knees, bend down to pick heavy stuff up - don't f*ck up my back. And I shouldn't feel guilty that I don't know what to do with my life, that makes me interesting!' and so on and so forth.

However, there are 2 lines in particular that never fail to jump out at me and stay in my mind.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

This line basically always strengthened my resolve to not give a rats ass about someone if that someone just stresses me out more often than necessary. You can't please everyone right? People make mistakes. But recklessness is not to be misconstrued as mistakes. They are not the same. Mistakes are forgivable. Recklessness - well - a string of recklessness is not.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

This line is the 2nd one that never fails to jump at me. What holds people back? Its fear. Thats it. If you say its your parents, then its probably because you're afraid of disappointing them or afraid of angering them. If its life, then you're just afraid to live. And thats a sad way to go about life. There are always ifs and what nots. And if you really want to think about those, then life would probably become an endless chore.

Caution: Corny paragraphs coming up.

Its definitely easier to just focus on what you want. I don't believe people who say they don't know what they want. People like that are usually people who want a lot of things and just don't know which to choose. Like me. There are 2 ways to deal with that, either you spend your whole life thinking about which option to attempt first OR make a list and then go for it. I'm not saying go into it blindly, but think of the pros and cons and be willing to accept both aspects of your choice.

Some people get stuck on the pros and cons part and spend a lot of unnecessary time thinking if they can accept the cons. If that happens, I suggest - look at the pros. If its exactly what you want. Go for it. Cause if you don't know whether you can accept the cons after spending weeks on end thinking about them, then you probably won't be able to figure it out no matter how much time you spend on them. Every experience is never a total loss as long as you know there is something you can get out of it.

I am scaring myself everyday now. From the moment I wake up. I've chosen a career path that I never thought I would. I am trying to build something out of nothing. I spend many waking moments thinking about whats the best way to go about doing it. I ask my Father and Brothers and every other experienced acquaintance for advice every time the opportunity comes up. And I usually get a hard time for doing so - especially from my family. And thats something I have to deal with. It won't stop me from asking - because the truth of the matter is I'm not sure of what I'm doing. But that won't stop me from doing the best I can.


On another note:

Rose Rose I love you!

And I just scared myself even more yesterday, when I made another choice. I took up an offer to be apart of the ensemble of a musical due to be staged in November. The next 2 months I'll be focusing my energies into trying to build a company and rehearsals / performing.

I'm already scaring myself with my first choice. Why would I want to scare myself even more right? But I guess I'm just a gutsy fool. I'm cool like that.

Thats it for now. I'm out.

P/s: Wear Sunscreen.

The New Stage

September 3rd

On this day last year:
Andre Agassi retires after winning 60 career titles.

On this day 2004:
After a 2-day standoff, Islamist terrorists murder about 340 held inside a school in Beslan, Russia.

On this day 1989:
"Into the Woods" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City after 764 performances.

On this day 1978:
Pope John Paul I officially installed as 264th supreme pontiff.

On this day 1971:
John Lennon leaves U.K. for New York City, never to return.

As for Sept 3rd 2007 - nothing really spectacularly amazing to report on my end except that it marks the first day I got a 'real job'. Close friends may know why the term real job is highlighted. Private joke. Moving along...

Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have now officially and properly joined the ranks of the working Malaysian public. For the first time in my 25 years of life on this earth, I have finally landed myself a permanent job. EPF, SOCSO, income tax and eventually all the relevant thingamajigs will finally affect me. I am no longer just a kid trying my hand at interesting jobs. I now have a career that needs attention and care. In other words, no more f*cking around.

The change is happening not quite at a gradual pace but moving along quite nicely at a pace that is not entirely comfortable but not terribly alarming either. Not so long ago I changed my mobile number from pre-paid to post-paid. And that may seem like a small little iddy biddy thing to most but for me, it was indeed a milestone that is still fresh on my mind. When I was still at school, I always saw the option of getting a fixed line only open to adults who earn a living. In that sense, I now consider myself an adult earning a living. Thats big.

If we rewind further back, I stopped using my Mum's credit card to fill up petrol for my car. I started paying for my own. This probably took place 2 years ago. It was accomplished solely on my income as a part-time Kickboxing Instructor at TNT Kickboxing. In fact, my income from there pretty much kept me going for a solid 2 year period. From entertainment to the essentials of pre-paid reloads and petrol and food, I survived on Kickboxing Money. (Thank you TNT!)

The decision to pay for my own petrol was instigated by a passing statement by my 2nd bro to me, "That's why...can't even afford to pay for your own petrol, then you want a car??"

Since I resented the fact that that statement resonated the stink of an accusation that I was being spoilt, I made a conscious decision and concerted effort to start paying for my own things. And only resorted to asking for money from parents when I absolutely couldn't afford something I needed.

But it helped a lot, cause I was motivated. I did all kinds of jobs. From event management to kickboxing to acting and some odd stuff in between - I did a lot.

As most of you would know, just before I started on my current job, I was working in production.

I worked my ass off in production. The pace was crazy and at times I felt like it was a neverending gargantuan task that I would never be able to complete alive. This may sound like a dramatization but I assure you, its as real as it gets. I don't think I'll ever feel that kind of pressure to perform at work ever again.

But, after all is said and done. I finished my term there. I got out alive. And feeling quite proud of the end product. Although, I know that I only contributed 'so much' - I'd like to think that it was enough for someone fresh like me. I feel I did myself good. Far from perfect - sure - nevertheless, I'm proud of the 'little' that I did do well. The only comfort I have is the assurance from both the Director and the Producer of Popiah, that they would gladly hire me again should I decide to continue to stay in the Production line.

But they did caution me - that when I told them if I ever go back to production - my end goal is to be someone who can Produce, act and even direct shows ... they told me that I'd have a realllllllly loooooong way to go. And in not so many words, I guess they told me what I already knew, I don't think I'm patient enough to go through all the hardship and time required to get there.

So with a heavy heart I said good-bye to Production. I still will write, act and even direct - but under my own terms and at my own pace. If I ever strike gold and something that came from me sells...then all the better because its what I love to do. But if nothing happens, it still works out for me cause its something I love to do. So either which way I look at it - I guess I win.

Now I'm working in YouthMalaysia.com Sdn. Bhd. (Yes, it is a website. But we're not a dot.com company.)

YM.com is a non-profitable and non-governmental organization that strives to support the cause of youth unity. It will serve as a community platform to allow the Malaysian youth to join together as one.

My own personal goal for joining YM.com is to help create sustainable and easily accessible platforms in diversified fields to enable Malaysian Youths across the board to live empowered lives.

Now don't that sound noble and shit... haha - put away all the cynicism for once. And read on.

In all seriousness, I like the idea that if I do this well, I could be apart of creating something that can really change some lives. And in my own little way, I get a chance to make a difference.

Thats the impetus. Thats my drive. Thats something worth paying EPF, SOCSO and going to the office for. Innit?

Beats just going to work, looking to climb the ranks and earning profit. Essentially, thats whats I'm doing too - sure - I'm looking to create something profit generating, climb the ranks and become a partner and make some money to be able to live the life I want to live. But its bigger than just that. Thats what I like.

This is the new stage from which I will need to perform. Only time will tell whether I'll get a standing ovation at the curtain or a resounding 'boo' instead. Hopefully, I won't f*ck up and fall off the stage either!

Dedication: This entry goes out to all who still visit my blog and check on how I'm doing. Even if you don't leave any comments or any clue that you do visit my blog - I appreciate the effort. But for f*cks sakes - leave lah a comment! ;)

But before I leave - here's a picture of Captain and myself - playing fetch.

Signing off.

The CommonJack.

Life as we know it.

If Life were a person. To me, Life would be a 'she'. And I think with an idea like Life - she would be different to everyone. For some, she could be really nice most of the time. For others, she could be a real bitch. In a nutshell, she would be a subjective entity.

She has taken me for a real ride in the past few months. Since the time I finished with my finals(last June) till now. Talk about travelling out of the norm. But then again - I guess its nothing spectacularly amazing. Others have travelled a similar path. Here's a little nutshell version - brace yourselves, its been a loooooong while since I've blogged and I'm not even sure if I can finish this in one seating!

Lets see, in chronological order:

1. Finished final exams - June '06.

2. Played "Cockatoo" in Clive Barker's Frankenstein in Love - directed by Gavin Yap - staged end Oct till Nov '06. Also doubled up as a Production Asst for the play - helping source for costumes and props.

3. Started work in Popiah Pictures Sdn. Bhd. Nov '06. Started as a Production Asst with Nescafe Kickstart (season 3) - driving production van, buying lunch and dinner, doing grunt work, helping a little bit with sourcing sponsors and doing a little bit of Assistant Director(AD) work.

Close to the finishing bits of Kickstart - I moved on to THE FIRM (currently airing on NTV7 at 9pm to 10pm every Sunday!) as an AD (who goes out on shoots and essentialy 'assists' the Director) and also helping to liase with all the various sponsors and ensuring that the challenges for each episode are controlled and contained so that we have something to shoot and not piss the sponsors off.

In fact, suffice to say, from about January '07 till just yesterday (July 8th), my Life was THE FIRM. I was given the opportunity to be apart of it from the very beginning and almost to the very end. I say almost, because at this point, editing is being completed and I was only involved with the editing process till ep 6. I am not privy to the process from ep 7 till ep 10.

There are various websites to check out re: THE FIRM.

NTV7's site.
Some blog site.
THE FIRM on Wikipedia.

I'm sure you can find more if you are inclined to do so. Google it.

4. Throw in a dancing class (last year), some open mic gigs and a 1st time Stand-up Act by myself, making my first short for BMW SHORTIES, a lot of kickboxing in spurts ... that encapsulates most of what I've done.

Oh and of course spending lots of time with my new found love - Anrie. :) Come July 28th, it'll be a year - unchartered territory for someone like myself. Scary but enjoying every single day of it.

5. Now I'll be moving on to my next free lance job - working with YouthMalaysia.com Sdn. Bhd. on 'Gegar U! Colours of Our Nation' event road show. For the next 2 mths I'll be travelling a lot around north and south of M'sia as well as Sabah/Sarawak organizing quite large scale events in colleges, universities and shopping complexes to raise awarenes and hype for Malaysia's 50th Merdeka celebrations.

It'll culminate with a 50 hour long event to commerate the 50th Merdeka up in Penang later in Aug.

6. After that? A new business venture which will hopefully lead to the rest of my life. :)

Thats it in a nutshell.

Like I said, Life can be a real bitch. But she's been pretty good to me. Can't complain. She changes on me every now and again. Quite frequently since last June '06 actually. Everytime I think I'm set on a single path she throws a land slide at me and dares me to walk through it, or to take the longer path or to just sit there and wait for the road to clear. She changes her look constantly. Sometimes I look at Life, my Life, I stare at her and analyze her but she looks different to me every single time.

So here's to you Life.

Hopefully I'll be blogging more often now. You lot take care - if there is still a 'lot' that visits this ere ole website. :)

BMW Shorties - The Outcome

OK – some of you may already know this. But what the hey – this is for those who don’t.

I didn’t make it to the finals of BMW Shorties.

For those of you who are interested in the movies that did – you can visit www.bmwshorties.com.my – the shorts that made it are all decent and watchable – and in my opinion pretty good in fact. But for the people who just think anything M’sian cannot be any good – then there’s not much else I can say to convince you to go check it out.

I went to the ceremony where they announced the winner of BMW Shorties. It was held at Central Market Annex – on the top floor. It’s a nice little place which the Kakiseni fella, Phang Khee Teik bought over and turned into a art gallery of sorts. However, on the night I went there, there was a nice set up of cocktail party type tables and low chairs plus plasma TVs all over the place.

I arrived there at 7 pm on the dot. Not many people were around of course. Everybody else was late. Champagne, juice, wine and soft drinks were served to the early comers and they played BMW sponsored shorts from famous Hollywood Directors like John Woo and Tony Scott on the plasma TVs to entertain those who were early of course.

The John Woo one was typically John Woo with Clive Owen playing a very ‘James Bond’ type character. And from that short, I think good ole Clive would have made a fine James Bond.

The Tony Scott one really caught my eye though – it was called ‘Beat The Devil’ and had the likes of Clive Owen (he was in all the shorts that were shown), James Brown and Gary Oldman as THE DEVIL. Damn good lah – I haven’t tried sourcing it online – but I’m sure you can find it somewhere. If anybody reading this ever finds it – drop me a line, let me know.

I digress – anyway – I waited around and sparked a conversation with this guy named Helmi. I remembered him from the BMW Shorties Workshop I attended. It appears his movie made it to the final 10. And I found that he was exactly like me – almost at least. He studied a course that he didn’t like and dropped out twice. Now he’s in ASK studying Arts and Theatre. He has his own crew of friends who churn out their own theatre productions when they manage to save enough money. I heard that he’s also in Shuhaimi Baba’s upcoming flick – ‘1957’ about Malaysia and our MERDEKA.

This was his first time directing a film. No technical film knowledge as well – just like me. His short is entitled ‘Anak Jemi Pok’ – check it out at the above said website if you want.

He didn’t end up winning either.

But I watched most of the movies and I feel that my movie could have made it just as easily as the ones that did. Visually, story wise and other technical elements wise – my movie is as good if not better than some of the ones that made it – in my opinion lah. However, only one stark difference was this – at the end of all the shorts that made it – you know exactly what they were about without having to think about it too much.

With mine – it’s open to interpretation. And I guess – too much interpretation. In that sense, it turned out artier that I think it should have been.

I’ve learnt my lesson.  Next one, everybody will understand. And on top of that, it’ll be cool too! Lol

Anyway, the highlights from the entire event that I will always remember:

1. How the 2 honourable mentions from the top 10 won 2 round trip tickets to the Cannes Film Festival as BMW’s special guests.
That made me feel really shit about not maki ng it to the top 10. But then again, I watched their shorts – and I think they deserve it lah.

2. They pieced together a montage piece of all the shorts that were entered (74 entries).
Every few seconds, there was some footage of my short from the start of the montage right to the end. That was nice.

3. How the BMW representative who was basically in charge of organizing the competition – came up to me and said, “Michael, I liked your short. I tried to fight for it to be in the top 10 but what can I say, I was just one voice.”

He even quoted a line which made the entire short memorable for him, a line which I thought up and was really happy with – a line that not many people noticed:

“She liked LRT rides. She used to say that everyone on the LRT had their own places to go, their own things to do, their own people to see and their own things on their mind.

It was like going to a public place (beat) to be alone.”

And on that note; I will end this blog entry.

Much Has Happened

Wow ... where do I begin? As the subject suggests, much has happened since I last blogged and I shall now attempt to give you guys a personal update.

Singing at NO BLACK TIE:
Starting off at where I left off last ... my open mic gig with Mia Palencia's BEDROOM SINGERS event. The hype and buzz surrounding the gig was a lot more than I expected. I even got a really big picture of myself printed in the 'U buy U sell' section in NST (and all the related newspapers). Friends were calling me up after seeing that picture. Mia even wrote some really cool things about me. And as excited as I was about it - all the buzz got me quite nervous also lah. The fact that it was being held at NO BLACK TIE (for those not in the know - it is a well-known place where some really good and now successful local bands / singers have performed) made me even more nervous.

To add to that, I haven't been spending as much time as I'd like with my guitar singing and practicing my songs.

So, to put it in a nutshell. I think I bombed. My performance was not nearly as good as the last time I sang at the La Bodega gig. I was nervous and it showed to my detriment. One of my songs, I think was completely lost to the audience and it was a tough audience that night. I did manage to get some attention back to myself on my last song but then again - overall - 
I wasn't happy with what I put up.

That being said, it does not deter me at all - I will push for another chance and when I get it, I'll kill it next time!

My Short:
My Short entitled, "Moving On" is now done. Its finished and I also handed it in for judging. According to the website, the results of whether I made it to the final 10 will be known on Feb 28th! So, I can't wait ...

But to give you guys a bit of an idea of what the entire process was like - I shall expound a little further.

It was hard work. With some low points ... wondering if I knew enough to do this. If my script was good enough. If 'I' was good enough. I had a wonderful crew though and that helped tremendously! Below you will read about each of the wonderful individuals who have helped me
(in no particular order) ...

My girlfriend, Anrie who helped me with everything and I mean everything. From the lowly work of just standing around to the extremely critical stuff like editing, conceptualising ... she helped me when I was feeling low. She took time out and settled the last bit of editing and VO's when I was in the hospital (had a minor op - removed a boil - disgusting subject matter - so nuff said). The Short would not have been finished on time if it were not for her.

Then there's Nick - my talented guy. He's my cameraman, editor, music man and at the end he also became my VO talent. He has given me so much of his time and creative input - this short is as much his as it is mine. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that just having him around with all his skills and time - is quite possibly the main backbone to the entire process.  I provided the 'what' ie what I wanted. He gave me the 'means' to do it. I am looking forward to working a lot more with this guy.

Jeremy - who is a co-star as well as part of the crew. I asked Davina to come up with a name of a friend she could talk to. And his name was given  to me. I called him up. And from the very first meeting we had together - I knew this guy would be a crazy amount of help. He decided almost out of the blue to be much more involved. Rather than just acting, he also helped with all the small stuff. He hung around everytime we had a shoot. He held the lights. He lent us his car. He went
out with Nick to buy materials. And most importantly, he gave me shitloads of his time. I will always owe him for that.

Davina- my main star. She jumped right into the project and shared everything with me. Her character was the most important as the audience will only be exposed to her journey. Visually, she is all the audience has. The personal feelings she shared with me and allowed me to probe into was instrumental to her character in the Short. She dropped every wall she had around her most intimate of emotions and laid it out for all to see on camera. And she trusted me. For that trust - I thank her with all my heart.

Colin!!! - My man. He took time out to come down from Cameron Highlands and spent 3 to 4 hours shooting his single scene. Taking time out takes on a whole new significance cause I know he has some personal issues currently. There's not much else I have to say. This man I met during my very first Play outside of school has stuck with me through the years and continues to help me whenever he can. What can I say? I will treasure this friendship to no end. :)

And then there is Dae Ren, Benson and Ken ...

Benson - took time out to go into the studio early on a Saturday morning to help with the VO and even composed a musical piece for the short. You da man! 

Dae Ren - who allowed us to use one of his songs for the short and also took time out on a Saturday night to act in a very short scene in the movie. You da man! 

Ken - who took time to provide some really cute and effective drawings for me - which I used in the intro. You da man!

So stay tuned - hopefully the next time you read about my short here, it'll be state that it made it to the final top 10!

New Car:
My Citroen has been sold. I now have a new Satria Neo. Its grey. 1.6 litre. Manual. Its cool. I love the car. When I take pics. I'll put it up.

New Lap Top:
I also have a new laptop. Which I'm using extensively for work.

CONCLUSION:
Life is good. :)

I is singing - for real!

X
I is the singing again (as stated in 'And SING again I shall'). Thought I'd put up the poster. I'm on a poster. That hasn't gotten old for me.

LOL.

So, do drop by and support me if you have the time. Call and book if you can though cause places are limited.

Day 1 & Day 2 done.

If you have read "The Director in Me", you would know that I have decided to make a short and enter the BMW Shorties competition. Here's a brief summary of what has happened with the whole process thus far.

- After all that brainstorming with Anrie and Davina - I eventually came up with a strong idea.

- Met up with Nick, Jeremy and Amy (my initial Editor) at Coffee Bean in SS2 - discussed further. At this point, I had only scripted Scene 1 and Scene 2 of my short.

- Amy pulled out of the team because she has too much work to deal with - I should know - I see her working her ass off at the office everyday.

- But nevermind, I have faith in Nick. He's one talented bugger.

- I went for the BMW Shorties workshop.

- Managed to get feedback on my script from Gregory Wee and James Lee - both are Judges in the competition.

- Met up with whole crew (Nick, Anrie, Davina, Jeremy) at SS2 McD's - sorted out schedules and duties.

- Bought some EQ - then myself, Anrie, Nick and Jeremy went to recce some locations.

- Yesterday - we shot Scene 2. Went rather smooth for the first time out.

- Everything is set at night. So, it's always going to be tough.

- Today, was tough as hell. Shot Scene 1 - indoors, Anrie's attic - very intense but also smooth enough. I got the best out of Davina.

- Then we went out to shoot Scene 5 around Hartamas between Davina and Colin. Tough. Very tough. Rain. Traffic. Lighting. Everything was a problem.

- Hopefully we got all the shots we needed and we can use all of them.

And thats a very brief brief. :)

I'm out.
p/s: To my cast an crew! You guys are 'da bomb!!!!' - also, We Jun - thanks for stopping by and helping with Scene 1 man ... I really appreciate it.
 

And SING again I shall.

Dearest Friends,  

I'll be singing again - in another open mic which is going to be headlined by the amazing Mia Palencia. The group organising it will be the same people who deal with her sessions too. And this is the 2nd time they are doing it - and if the first one that I attended last December was anything to go by (also at NO BLACK TIE) - then it will most likely be one of the biggest crowds I've ever played - to date. (My own songs mind you.) 

I'd love it if my own friends were amongst that huge crowd - to lend me some support when they call on my name to go on stage! *Grin.

PASSES

Passes are at RM20.00 only at any one time. Only 100 passes are allocated for each series on a first come first serve basis so the audience are encouraged to get them prior to the event due to the limited numbers available. There will be no bookings for tables. A promotion of 6 passes for RM 100.00 purchased only in the month of January is now available.

GETTING IN

18 years and above are allowed to enter strictly with passes only. Since the venue can accommodate only 100 people at any one time, there will be no allocation of free passes.

The Bedroom Musician Series "Pop / Folk" 
27th January, Saturday 
NO BLACK TIE @ 9.30 pm.



TYPICAL TIMELINE



4.00pm Sound Check

9.30pm Opening Act – Master Of Ceremony - Bubu Azzura

9.45pm Main Section – 1st Session of 30 minutes showcase by
- Sad Angry Babies

10.15pm Interval

10.45pm Middle Section – Bedroom Supporting Acts
- Maximum 3 Supporting Acts of 15 minutes per performance

10.45pm Wanted

11.00pm Michael Chen

11.15pm Michelle & Ling

11.30pm Kim Hesselberg

11.45pm Main Section - 2nd Session of 30 minutes showcase by Headliner
- Mia Palencia

12.15am Closing Act – Master Of Ceremony – Bubu Azzura



Note: Due to uncontrollable circumstances of availability of musicians unless otherwise confirmed, the producer have the right to change the musicians so Headliners may vary


 

My new car?

X

Front View

X

X

Rear View

X

X

Interior View - but the car I might get will have black leather and not red.

X

My Citroen ZX is now officially sold. Today will be the last day I'll be driving it. As happy as I am about getting another car - I have grown more attached to my ZX than I thought. I will be sad to see it go. sigh...

Oh well ... stay tuned - will be putting more in this post eventually.

My 1st time.

Shit!

I just wrote a long ass post about my first ever stand-up act. And it got all deleted! I hate it when that happens!

Anyway, this is the gist of what I wrote. I'm glad I decided to take the risk. The high I'm still feeling right now due to the adrenaline rush I had on stage is amazing.

So, for those of you who came to support me - I thank you. You have no idea how much it meant to me to have all of you there.

For those of you who missed it - do not fret - if this high is anything to go by - I'll definitely be doing it again one day.

I'm out.

p/s: Click this link to read about the show I was apart of. "FREE FLOW"

Interested to be a M'sian APPRENTICE?

As mentioned in an earlier post "Being a PA / Kickboxing Instructor / etc.", I'm working on a 3rd Reality show. It is now OK to reveal what that show is. It's called THE FIRM (and can be described as a Malaysian APPRENTICE).

Currently, our Donald Trump equivalent (ie our CEO) is still a secret but rest assured the prizes which could include attracttive cash prizes, potentially a car, a job opportunity with our 'secret CEO's company' and loads more (I'm still working on the prizes).

I am thinking that you can't lose much by just sending in an application and seeing if you can get in. By that time, the prizes and CEO can be revealed to you and if you feel like its not worth it - you can always just decline to be on the show.

General Sypnosis: The Firm is a corporate reality television programme in search of the next Malaysian corporate high-flier. The Firm attempts to weed out the weak from the strong, the underachievers from the overachievers and the followers from the leaders.

Through a nationwide search, 10 young up-and-coming professionals (male and female) between the ages of 21 and 35 are selected to join The Firm. In addition to measuring success via quantity achievements, the winner is selected based on qualitative factors (ie. Business ethics, moral values and best practice).

After various tasks and assignments, the best candidates will be left to compete with one another, until one who has outshined the rest wins. The winner walks away with attractive prizes. The Firm plans to reflect what the real world of business is like ? tough, demanding, ruthless, and full of temptations to carry out unethical business practices and ignore moral values (short cut to success). It will be exciting and fast-paced. The Firm will galvanise the entrepreneurial spirit of Malaysian youth .

Visit http://www.ntv7.com.my/thefirm/ for more info and application forms. The closing date for applications is JAN 26th.

So please spread the word with much haste! :)

Feel free to leave a comment here if you have any questions.

That's it. Before I sign off - hope y'all had a superb New Year celebration!