Old people.

I love older men - Cameron Diaz



Reza : Nice guitar..new.? Yamaha ker..? Don't know they have a new model...

My friend looked up at me incredulously, his eyes squinting. He looked pissed like I've insulted his mother or something...


Kawan : Excuse me...it is a Taylor.

He pauses....a short pause. Aww great...there's more to come..

'Limited edition. Only unit in this goddamned country. Look at the serial number, its 237..only 350 is made. Rumour has it that Clapton has the number 3 and 15. U play any...?


'Skit-sikit boleh le.' I replied cheekily.


Kawan : Lemme see u play.



I take the guitar gently by the neck.


Emmm...spruce top, nice cutaway too for a full fingerboard access, unmistakable rosewood back. The top wood is probably aged for 25 years before being cut by the master maker....back wood probably 15 years if not more. Its not at all weird for a master guitar maker to use wood that is 'aged' by his father. Some are not lucky enough to see their aged wood go on to become finished products. Wood like wine...become better with time.

You see...wood is made of cellulose kept together by lignin. The fibers are very flexible and the orientation of this composite produces very different bending stiffness along and across the wood grain. Repeated bending would break some of the bonds in lignin, making it more flexible. Since different antinodes(parts that flex the most in the vibrating top wood) are 'excited' by the different frequencies, ultimately the best effect would be produced by vibrating the top with the notes that you plan to play. Cheap guitars has wood verniers or laminated wood top and the glue plus the laminate prevents the so called 'loosening' of the wood, dampening the wood ability to 'bend'. Thus, cheap guitars sound the same new or old. This guitar however will produce better acoustic and sound, the older it gets.


Looking further, I noticed the strong mahogany neck and nice pearl inlays for the fretboard, nowadays most fretboard inlays are cheap made in Taiwan plastic. This inlays takes time to set.

Nice weight for the instrument...not too light or too heavy.


Wait a minute. What the hell...?? There is a pick-up jack at the back for amps. They put electronics on this baby too..!! A fusion of old school and new...cool, very cool. I can imagine it being in the hands of Clapton himself. This baby isn't shy being in a room or on a stage.

Full satin glow finishing on the entire piece, handmade....no doubt about it. I am holding a work of art. This baby in my hand screamed...I AM AN EXPENSIVE SONOFABITCH. This string instrument can feed a family of four in Africa for a year...nope...maybe 2 years. If you asked the shop how much is this guitar...you probably couldn't afford it.



Kawan : U wanna play it or look at it..?


Reza : Ok..ok. I'm gonna play "Hotel California.."


Kawan : Gimme back my guitar...You're OLD.

Poor cat having to listen to my De Niro impersonation..

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"

(Movie quote, Taxi driver-1976)

Suatu petang di Starbucks

Suatu petang di Starbucks,

Seorang wanita sepi ,

Seorang duda menyendiri,

Sepasang couple melayari internet melupai pasangan sendiri,

Kalis pandang,

Wi-fi berkumandang,

Sebuah cinta kecundang,

Suatu petang di Starbuck,

Apakah pulak episodnya esok..




Damn...I really suck at this...

C'est La Vie

Kitty March : Who do you think you are? My guardian angel?
Millie Ray : Not me, honey. I lost those wings a long time ago.

(quote from the movie Scarlet Street - 1945)


I am leaving hockey for golf. If KJ can win UMNO youth after being found guilty...I can leave hockey and play what ever game I want to. Yes, even lawn bowling...or knitting...no...maybe speed knitting...is that even a sport..?

My friend calls me up when he heard the news...bad news travel fast.

Kawan : Reza...you what..? You mean you are leaving hockey for golf...how lame is golf. Only orang tua main golf. Damn it...what about the cool Gryphon stick you bought from Vik..? Fuck man...you have new gloves..

Damn it...not at 11 am. I just arrived at the office...haven’t had breakfast..and not in any mood to discuss about something I decided 2 weeks ago. I need a cigarette...and I don’t even smoke. This is bad...

‘Aku malas le. Aku dah berumur...aku tak nak torn ligament...lagipun koorang main tengahari sangat...aku nak something yang relaxing skit. Lagipun anak aku pun dah ade golf set...’

This is when my friend went ballistic...

Kawan : Apa...anak kau pun dah ade golf set...??? Sapa beli...?

‘Bapa mentua....’

Kawan : Heii...mana ade budak Malaysia terer main golf..?? Mana...mana..? Hoki kita ranking top 10 tau dalam dunia...


So that was it. Time for me to embrace change.


Either that or I am getting old...

Signs

Neo (Keanu Reaves) : I cannot lose you..

Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) : You're not goin to lose me. You feel this..? (Takes his hand). I'm never letting go.

(Quote from the movie Matrix Reloaded-2003)

Schweppes Short Film Festival

Schweppes (the fizzy drinks maker) has their own short film festival on the web. The above short film is called 'Signs'...is one of the most original and touching short film that I've seen thus far.

Wanna know why Schweppes came up with this..? Well, Schweppes is brand repositioning their soft drinks market to target mature adults.

Wanna see all the 5 films...it is HERE on their official website. If you noticed, all films need to showcase the 'Schh moment'...

What moment..?? See for yourself ;-)

Lim Guan Eng - The opposition myth of freedom

(Balian of Ibelin, the defender of Jerusalem during the crusades in the 12th century lamenting to the Bishop after resisting the continuing onslaught by the Muslim army lead by Saladin. Their situation looked extremely desperate, the defence for Jerusalem seemed hopeless)

Knight: They must ask for terms...WE MUST ASK FOR TERMS..
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: Convert to Islam... REPENT LATER! !
Balian of Ibelin (sarcastically) : You've taught me a lot about religion, your Eminence.

(Quote from the movie Kingdom of Heaven -2005)

One year has passed since the thumping victory of DAP in Penang. What celebration to mark their victory than to start boycotting NST and allowing only selected media to cover Lim Guan Eng press releases.

It seems that DAP has forgotten about the so called ‘Freedom of Speech’ tag line that they paddle to the Malaysian public on their way to win Penang in the last general election. Maybe Lim Guan Eng definition of freedom actually meant freedom to support his cause and his party.

In politics it works wonder to pay homage to lip service terms like ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’ when you are seeking power. When power is at your disposal, freedom and equality are a hindrance to your ambition. Rakyat is given a glimpse to things to come under Guan Eng’s competency, accountability and transparency (CAT) mantra. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Apologist would say that NST is a BN paper and is biased. True, but have these guys ever read the opposition controlled papers or blogs? Anyway, what is the big bru ha ha that arouses this upholder of freedom wrath?

Judge for yourself, the so called slanderous article is here (Guan Eng’s trait that is difficult to swallow) and here, the follow up by NST (What’s your beef Guan Eng?).

I have read plenty of biased articles and these articles are mild. If the heat is too much Guan Eng...get out from the kitchen. Maybe you would be better talking about values than practicing them.

A few good men....(So why do we choose these guys..?)

Jessep (Jack Nicholson) : You want answers?
Kaffee (Tom Cruise) : I want the truth!
Jessep : You can't handle the truth !!
(Quote from the movie, A Few Good Men - 1992)

The coming UMNO General Assembly hopefully marks the watershed in Malay politics. As an outsider, I hope it will divert from the normal business as usual politics and go towards choosing cleaner and moral leaders. Weeding out the corrupt and sleaze that permeates the upper echelons of UMNO hierarchy down to the grassroots.

Wishful thinking indeed if you take a look at some of the candidates. A few should be rejected outright by UMNO members. We have for example Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib whom is contesting for the Umno Deputy President post. He was caught smuggling AUD1.26 million in an Australian airport (you need to declare to the authorities if you have more than AUD5000).

Continuing down the list, the notorious Tan Sri Rahim Thamby Chik for the post of UMNO Vice President. Chills went down my neck, if this character wins.

What about the the former UMNO Vice President, Tan Sri Isa Abdul Samad..? Suspended for 6 years for money politics and now seeking the same position as UMNO Vice President. C’mon is this instigating the public anger or what..?

The topping on the proverbial cake would surely goes to the infamous Khairy Jamaluddin. Found guilty for money politics a few days before the polls and now the new UMNO Youth Chief. Hurray for this fellow who has fast tracked his political career from a nobody during Tun Mahathir tenure as PM to a heavy weight during his in-law’s tenure as PM. It seems the delegates have a short memory, if they have a long memory they would still remember about the ECM Libra scandal a few short years ago. What was the theme again for the UMNO general assembly..? Was it to get rid of corruption..? Was anybody even listening..?

Tun Mahathir was prescient during his speech a week before this UMNO assembly, he spoke about the problems facing the Malays during gathering of the Pribumi Perkasa Negara. I quote..

26. Kononnya nak jadi Perdana Menteri termuda. Bukan nak
majukan bangsa dan negara, hanya jawatan tertinggi untuk diri sendiri seawal
mungkin. Dengan apa cara sekalipun, halal atau haram, tak mengapa asalkan boleh
jadi Perdana Menteri termuda.

27. Jika kita sudah sanggup jual bangsa
kita, kita jual untuk dapat duit sedikit, untuk jawatan kecil dan besar, untuk
isi temolok kita, alamatnya apa? Yang dikejar tidak akan dapat, yang dikilik
akan berciciran. Lepas itu kita tidak ada apa-apa yang boleh diraih lagi.
Semuanya akan dikuasai orang. Pada masa itu kita jadi hamba sahaja, kita akan
meminta-minta sepanjang masa.

Rome continue to burn under their watch....

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Update : 29.03.2009, Tun Mahathir blog 'Kenapa saya tidak hadir pembukaan mesyuarat Agung UMNO' is here. It's because of KJ's win as ketua pemuda UMNO.