Press Conference : Check!


Thursday (23/02/2006)

6.00pm: reached Spectrum. Dada was making media calls (complete with a curler on her fringe..tsk!), Nadia making last minute changes to some documents. Waited for Peat to start on music selection. Peat brought a weird rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. hmm.

7.00pm: dinner at the cafe with Peat and Ian and 2 little kitties.

8.30pm: picked Net and Aizam from the library. headed to the hotel. utterly impressed - the ballroom was so much more than we expected! well worth the money we paid for it. was reeeally nice...6 chandeliers and uber spacious! got everyone excited thats fersho ;)

9.30pm: after everyone settled down, started on the technicalities first - the projector, music, mics etc.

mic chhheckk one twoo..one twoo..

10.00pm: rehearsals started. slightly disorganised, but still fun in the beginning.

me darlings Nadia and Aizam

panel rehearsal

10.30pm: started having abit of a problem with the emceeing and music selection - so unnecessary!

mucking around with the sound system

11.00pm: wrapped things up (actually the hotel staf told me that we had to go hah!)

12.00pm: slept over chez Eliza.


Friday (24/02/2006)

6.00am: got up, got ready

7.20pm: reached the Hotel, managed to catch Nadia's interview on our event on Red104.9am..well done Nadia (eventho u forgot to mention sponsors *lolsie*..small matter, good 1st radio presentation all the same)!! everyone looked so professional..so nice! we all had meehoon for breakfast (that i brought from the caterers near Eliza's place).

power breakfast!

had another dry run rehearsal before i had to leave to pick Rebecca up from her hotel. i swear waking up early in the morning really makes you feel productive haha!

9.00am: one by one our VIPs started arriving. but where oh where were the press? panicked a little coz we only had 3 media who confirmed attendance. you're thinkin..what only 3? keep in mind that

i) there was another event at the same location involving the Ministry of Higher Education - so most of the media were assigned there.

ii) a MALAY university student project handling a book reading campaign? zzz surely! on that account alone we lose out on the Chinese and Chinese-owned papers.

iii) our event was prolly too early for most of them to want to come. THIS was our bad, shuda set the time slightly later - 10am would have been best. oh well now we know! :)

9.30am: STILL barely any media and i'm freaking out. entertained our VIPs for a little while. got Syibs to fill out the back portion of the seats with anyone - our excessive classmates for one. thank God Pn Noraini's hubby, daughter + friends decided to turn up. i heard that Bidin and Syibs went around the school asking if anyone wanted "TO MEET ASHRAF SINCLAIR" to try and get traffic into our hall. well if they didn't have classes (the reason they were in school in the first place??) i'm sure they would have loved to come - doh!

10.50am: we got 5 members of the press! we start our event..yippee!

ushering Datin Radziah into the hall

11.00am: event goes uber smoothly..no major glitches and the media really paid attention and did not look bored at all, all thanks to our greaaaaaaaat panel! i love our panel (yes i love me too hah :P )

..said the beaver *dudumdush*

Panel consisted of moi as Project Directore, Datin Radziah as Patron, Mr George Thomas - Exec Director of MAB, Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson as Children's Book Author and Mr Ashraf Sinclair as hottie2scottie..i mean as the celeb who's supporting this event *sheepish grin*

Becky!

we deffo got the right people to be a part of this - they were all so passionate and gave the right vibe during their speeches. Datin Radziah rocked and saved our ass during the Q&A bit when no one asked questions, she sure knew how to break the ice! lets sing the chichak song everybodeyhh! Rebecca - Love herrrrrrr..she cooool (that coming from me..lets just say i hardly use that to describe a lot of ppl :P) expressed herself really well and Ashraf..well what can i say about Ashraf..Mr Handsome is not only pretty and nice to look at (made all the girls giggle and swoon), he's got charisma and a very likeable personality..kept his speech humourous (yes Mr Short-Attention-Span!), short and sweet..thanks 'Shraffy!

awwwwwwww..it's MrFlirtyFlirt <3

after all the speeches by members of the panel, we had the launching cake-cutting ceremony which went very well indeed (after the previous nites debate on choice of music - we eventually settled on Basement Jaxx's Do Your Thing (thanks Patrickus for this!), had our photo session with the cake, the buntings etc.

mmm...caake...homer simpson style!

proceeded to have light refeshments. had to do the PR thing and mingle with everyone - never in a million years would i have seen myself doing the mingling thing..i'm so not the type! but i think i did a good job if i may say so myself ;) aww c'mon give a girl a break eh?

got interviewed by Fairuz from i-kon, Berita Harian so that should come out either next Sat or the following Sat (i-kon is a weekly thing).

The goss:

i shouldn't really bitch about this but gah this one "celeb's" attitude just threw me off so bad! so we get her to be a part of our event right coz u know, she's a TESL graduate or summat and we thought hey she could sure use the coverage. so we sent her the proposal about a month back, we ask her hey are you free on this date, would you be interested so on so forth. she says yes.

a week back, we tell her prepare a short speech..not more than 5 mins, just a brief backgrounder on yourself, why you're interested in this. easy peasy yea? we didnt mind giving her keypoints even.

during rehearsal on Thursday, she sends a text msg to Eliza..i told you, no speech. i'm not even on the panel, i'm just there to support. there were other text msgs before, but the thing that pissed me off was her tone..uber rude! like what, just cause this is a student charity project, it gave you the right to act diva-ish with us is it? one minute telling us you'll do it, the next minute pulling out like that. so fine, i told Eliza, no need to reply..when she comes on Friday morning just sit her down and ask her nicely if she's sure she wants to do this cause its gonna look bad on her behalf if she's there n she doesn't say anything.

so the next morning, she texts Eliza and she says no speech and no panel if you dont give me your word i'm turning back now. what the hell was her problem? here i was freaking out about our media..i REALLY didn't need this sort of attitude from some two-bit 'celeb'. i told Eliza she was gonna bloody regret giving us the attitude once she set foot in the hotel and had a look at the place and the people that were involved in this event.

so Ms D-I-V-A comes late. but being the PD i had to be nice, but i really couldn't be arsed in giving her super great treatment.

anyhoo, you wanna hear the best part? after the photo session and all..Ms DIVA comes up to me and is absolutely positively GUSHING! she says OH THAT WAS A REAALLY GOOD SPEECH AUDRA WOW THIS IS A VERY IMPRESSIVE CAMPAIGN. OH I LOVE THE LOGO. CANTIK SANGAT! YOU GUYS PULLED THIS OFF REALLY WELL..by this time i nod, i say thank you, i smile but i sort of tune out her voice and excuse myself to accompany George for refreshments. the nerve! i knew what it was.. MS DIVA must've thought that a student project by UiTM was something irrelevant and unimportant and that it would be of mediocre standards. silly cow (literally.)

overheard at an interview with the media, MS DIVA says i'm really impressed with this project and am glad that they chose me to be part of it. really, its better than what some professional PR companies have come up with. yes we knew that all along, glad you're finally picking it up! oh and thanks for gobbling up all our cake. pft i had to stop her from cutting more cake by using the group photo session as an excuse..i mean SERIOUSLY is this woman for real?

Pn Noraini's hubby also came up to congratulate us, saying that our PC was indeed better than some professional PCs. George and Theresia also very kindly complimented on our event..so you can see why my head's up in the clouds now and is approximately the size of One Utama - new wing and all.

what upset me the most about MS DIVA's attitude was the fact that she had absolutely no confidence in us. look the way i see it, even IF our event was a small thing..you agreed to do it. be a professional and live up to it and sell the project..that is YOUR job as a celeb. Ashraf was great, he did everything we wanted him to do and more. he mingled with ALL our classmates (he did say we've got the hottest girls around..hellyea..23 superhot girls in suits, thats like every guys fantasy! who wouldnt want to be in our class lol). but no seriously, he did his part by supporting, giving the speech, mixing around with EVERYONE even Budi - shook his hand and all, said bye to each and everyone of us..tell me, how to not drool over this very FLIRTY gentleman..how? anyway yeah, i've lost any respect that i thought i had for this woman..she's not even half as popular as Ashraf and she's pulling that kinda attitude..UGH!

"we are not guys, we are hot chicks!" with Mr Ashraf, lucky guy ;)

so that was pretty much it, short and simple the way it should've been. i sent Rebecca back to her hotel and was on my way back home when i realised i left my handphone with Bidin and camera with Ian, being the absent-minded girl that i am. went back to our hotel but everyone had left. headed back out to go home but remembered i had a photo shoot at uni with the members of IPRMSA as Ex Officio. so went back to Uni only to discover no one was there. met some random guy at Spectrum and ask to borrow his phone to call Nadia who was at SACC mall. reached SACC and Ian decides to have lunch at the Sec3 McDs. so we head on there..bloody penat ok! i want a driver!! but seriously these things make you wonder..how did they do it without handphones?

spring cleaned the Spectrum a weebit before our 'Apprentice' photoshoot. all good fun. it was a pity Nadia and I were dead knackered. came back home, and was out like a light by 9pm..totally missed the Jose Padilla thing at Zeta. SOB!!!!!!!!!!! oh well...these things happen for a reason i spose. sigh..thats it fer now..gosh what a long post! wrapping this up with pictures from yesterday.

just wanted to thank my team again..you guys were awesome! wuvallyawww!!! oh and i'm supposed to say Dada is damn glam and thank you for introducing me to the father to my 2 kids *guffaw* :)

we did it! oohwee :)

the media shot

the poser shot - Aqmar looking XXX :)

with the v.sexy lyndada!

with the luvly ikan-resah makcik Aizam!

with Peat-y Pablooo, my little technician boy!

with the rest of the gals!

I R Gonzo the Great!

man these things are addictive! i know i know, i'm supposed to be doing work..b-but..must..do..quizzies first!! blogthings.com rocks!! some more quite accurate the results :) guilty as charged on all accounts *blush*

You Are Gonzo the Great

"Is something burning in here? Oh, it's just me."You're a total nutball who will do anything for attention.The first to take a dare, you'll pull almost any stunt.You're one weird looking creature, but your chickens don't mind!

The Muppet Personality Test

You Are a Chocolate Martini

You're an elegant drunk, who only likes the best bars and the most expensive drinks.A bit of a cheapskate, you're likely to mooch ten dollar drinks off both friends and strangers. You should never: Drink and dash. You're gonna get caught leaving someone with the tab! Your ideal party: A posh celebrity party you crash, with an open bar. Your drinking soulmates: those with a Classic Martini personality Your drinking rivals: those with a Blueberry Martini personality

What Flavor Martini Are You?

Your Daddy Is Darth Vader

What You Call Him: Papito Why You Love Him: Because he's your baby daddy

Who's Your Daddy?

The Longest Day

i have had the longest day ever! well okay not longest, but certainly the most tiring day.

7.30am - woke up, made some last minute changes to the SOB (that's Scoop On Books you doof.) proposal

9.00am - went to the stationery shop to make copies of the proposal

9.50am - picked Nadia up

10.00am - met up with author Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson at Dome, BSC and oh wow she is the coolest lady ever! that woman is my idol (she went to Parson's for one!), and our first meeting went extremely well. she even said our project was one of the best campaigns of the kind in Malaysia thus far *head starts to swell*

11.30am - dropped by Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) to collect endorsement letters and forms for Social Welfare Department.

12.00pm - lunched with Nadia

2.00pm - meeting with group members

5.00pm - stayed in Spectrum, adviced on invitation card designs and other stuff pertaining to publicity and promotion

8.00pm - visited Jason at Starbucks to discuss sponsorship for Sundae Party

10.00pm - reached home

11.00pm - sleep

1.15am - awake again.

it is now 2.08am and i'm still up eventho i'm frikkin tired, my mind can't seem to take a break! *grumble* oh well i'm hapy tho..had four meetings today over the span of 12 hours and they were all good ones! i suppose this is a pretty good litmus test - i think i'm pretty prepared to start working proper, not that i'm in a rush to do so. but yeah, i think i'll survive once i have to! and i'd like to think i've been doing a good job thus far, we've been getting reeeallly good feedback from all parties involved.

Rebecca was really psyched about being part of this event (see her artwork at http://rebeccaduckett.com/) and i just love how with every meeting with different people, we get new ideas as to how we can better improve the event. the great thing about Rebecca is that she was and is first and foremost an artist (she used to design the famous lizard t-shirts once upon a time) and is trying her hand at being a children's book author. so it works both ways - we promote her book (at basically no cost) and use her name in turn to promote our event. and since our tagline is Discovering the Art of Reading - it makes sense that we get her, coz we're trying to get the synergy right by associating the importance of illustrations in children's books (Izu the gallery owner was saying how we had to justify the reason for holding our event at an art gallery) with a reading campaign.

Jason's the current Store Manager at the newly opened Starbucks beside Taylors College. he was my former Asst Store Manager back in the day when i was working in Starbucks Sect 14. you see people, it PAYS to be nice to others coz you never know when u may need a favour! turns out, when i texted Jason, he was indeed looking for a way to give back to the community (it IS one of Starbucks' objectives) so my proposal could not have come at a better time! he reckons it's doable as we're only requesting for Starbucks to sponsor food & beverage, not monetary contributions. so if all goes well - there'll be iced coffee, iced tea and iced chocolate at my Sundae art gallery parrtayy..wooohooo! fingers crosssedddddddddd!

*yawn* okay now i'm reli starting to feel knackered. leave you guys with another choice piccie ;)

The most essential factor is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come - James Whitcomb Riley

Arty Kid

Whether you were a drama freak or an emo poet, you definitely were expressive and unique. You're probably a little less weird these days - but even more talented!

Who Were You In High School?

Your Famous Movie Kiss is from Cruel Intentions

"I'm the only girl you can't have, and it kills you."

What Famous Movie Kiss Are You?

Nadia's Bedey

Went for Nadia's birthday thing at the Green Lotus on Friday with the girls (and a boy or two lol) excellent spread, and i just love the whole idea of this neat little place tucked in the heart of KL So okay, i have to thank Sharizal for recommending this place to us..we loves it!

the kind ppl at Green Lotus reserved the whole room for us!

what you get when you put eight girls in a room..

picture..

..after picture..

after picture!

sa-wat-dee-kap!

After dinner, we dropped by Qba at the Westin for a lil bit of good live Salsa music. There was a pretty huge crowd (mostly expats tho), and i reckon the crowd were mostly non-salseros (most of Sam's students were at Salsa Havana) so didn't get to show off my moves *mwaha* but had a reli good night out with the girls overall..haven't danced like that in ages!! note to self: bring guy friend who'll foot the bill when at Qba. yes i am currently (and almost always) broke :S

thank you mr bartenderrrr!

the must-have restroom shot ;)

I Heart Quizzies
teehee feeling abit giddy today :)

Your Monster Profile

Undead Killer You Feast On: Fingernails You Lurk Around In: The Ocean You Especially Like to Torment: Blondes

What's" Your Monster Name?

You Are a Skin Deep Sweetheart

You may be supermodel gorgeous or a plain Jane.It really doesn't matter, because you're confident and secure.You don't go out looking like a slob, but you are low maintenance.You have better things to worry about than whether your nails are the right shade!

Are You Obsessed With Your Looks?

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris.The art, the fashion, the wine, the men!Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park...You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

You Are a Strawberry Blonde

Men see you as flirtatious, but they also see you as a challengeBecause you're totally fearless and carefreeYou've got the lightheartedness of a blonde, with the attitude of a redhead

How Blonde Are You?

Your Seduction Style: Fantasy Lover

You know that ideal love that each of us dreams of from childhood? That's you!Not because you posess all of the ideal characteristics, but because you are a savvy shape shifter.You have the uncanny ability to detect someone's particular fantasy... and make it you. You inspire each person to be an idealist and passionate, and you make each moment memorableEven a simple coffee date with you can be the most romantic moment of someone's lifeBy giving your date exactly what he or she desires, you quickly become the ideal lover. Your abilities to make dreams come true is so strong, that you are often the love of many people's lives.Your ex's (and even people you have simply met or been friends with) long to be yours.No doubt you are the one others have dreamed of... your biggest challenge is finding *your* dream lover.

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

Playlist (05/02/06)

A good mix of ambient/chillout stuff with a smattering of pop for the month of February! am totally feeling Jem's album, i know i know..so pop-ish kan..can't help it i'm feeling so mellow! lol.

Must download:
1. Afterlife - Sunrise (from one of the Cafe Del Mar albums)
2. Guadalupe Pineda - Historia de un Amor
3. Missing You - Jem
4. Stay Now - Jem
5. Wish I - Jem


Other choons that deserve a mention:
1. My new discovery: anything by Anna Nalick! (try Forever Love, I swear its not disgustingly sweet as the title might suggest)
2. Texas - Say What You Want ( I know it's an old song, but heck haven't heard it in awhile and what can I say, I'm in an emo state of mind..any soppy song goes!)
3. Paris Combo - Senhor
4. Talvin Singh - Traveller (Cafe Del Mar)
5. Katie Melua - I Cried For You (its a pity he recommended this song, coz I really like it. damn him and his good taste in music!)
6. Nancy Sinatra & The Audio Bullys - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down - been hearing this over the clubs last summer actually but never got round to downloading)
7. Roy Orbison - In Dreams (the scene from Blue Velvet when this tune comes on is so utterly..disturbing.)
8. stuff by Architecture in Helsinki

wokei thattaboutit! i'm on an mp3-happy-downloading spree so any recommendations would be good..the daily commute to Shah Alam requires much music to be uploaded unto the iPod. and no, mellow/soppy recommendations not necessary ;)

What’s the Scoop On Books?

Since most of the difficult bits pertaining to Project Director have been sorted out during CNY week and out of the way now (now the fun part of delegation! Whoopee.), I finally have the time to blog about my class event – The Scoop on Books! Reading Campaign.

It started off as a brief proposal for a one day event to cultivate healthy reading habits among Malaysia’s young and fund-raising for the development of Braille reading materials. I certainly did not expect my project to be selected amidst other campaigns proposed by other groups ie. SPCA charity drive, Batik Gala dinner, Petronas F1 campus tour..and so on.

How this idea came into being you may ask? I swear I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I browsed through NST’s lifestyle section and lo and behold – came across this feature article on Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson, a local children’s book author, promoting her book Natu the Chichak. Bam! There was my event.. I wanted to promote her book!

So here I was, thinking ah heck, they’ll prolly not choose my event anyways but whaddya know, here I am a month later in full Project Director glory (what do I know about leadership?!).
After our thrice weekly meetings, the humble one-day event has now become a full-fledged campaign. Basically, this campaign is targeted at preschoolers from the age of 4-6 years, and consists of three parts –

i) Press Conference (24th February 2006)
ii) Kindergarten Celebrity Reading (10th March 2006)
iii) Sundae Party@galleriiizu (2nd April 2006)

There will we four celebrity readings held simultaneously on the 10th at four separate kindergartens. So far, the celebs who have been contacted are

i) Ashraf Sinclair (Confirmed)
ii) Adibah Noor (Confirmed)
iii)Cheryl Samad (Confirmed)
v) Sazzy Falak (guest celeb for Sundae Party..she looks so angry in the photo!)

We also have a patron – Datin Radziah Mohd. Daud, the President for the National Association for Early Childhood Care and Education Malaysia (NAECCEM) who has agreed to sponsor books as prizes. She has also agreed to brief our celebs as to the proper way of reading books to preschoolers (it’s an art you see), that will not only be fun, but able to develop their fine motor skills at the same time.

There will be a drawing competition themed “My Favourite Book Character” during the Kindergarten Celebrity Reading whereby two winners will be selected from each kindy, and their drawings will be printed onto cards and later sold at RM10.00 per booklet (consisting of eight cards). We will be targeting personal sales as well as bulk-sales to corporations.

The Scoop on Books! A Sundae Party

This event finale will be held at galleriiizu, a very nice contemporary art gallery in the heart of KL (opposite the KLCC Convention Centre). Why an art gallery? We’re branding our event as discovering the art of reading. I’m sure we’re all aware that anyone can read a book aloud, but not everyone can do it well. Same goes to teaching, anyone can teach, but not everyone can teach effectively. This event is targeted to middle-upper class parents who encourage and cultivate the finer art of reading – definitely an event every child should have the privilege of participating! (Oh I forgot to mention, each child should come in costume as favourite book character..joy!)

Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson (my muse bwaha) has also agreed to conduct the final book-reading session at galleriiizu and also very graciously agreed to give 30% of all book-sales proceeds to our fundraising cause.

We will also be inviting a few blind + disabled children to join in on the fun, and there will be a brief Braille appreciation session, as well as a Braille recital by one of the students from MAB. There’s also a Creative Writing Recital by the other preschoolers. The day closes with a Sundae party whereby all preschoolers get rewarded with ice-cream..yum!

Anyway, so far things have been going pretty smooth flowing. We’re looking for monetary contributions though so if anyone is interested in helping out this event with a good cause (children + the blind..c’mon!) do let me know. We can arrange to have your logo/advertisement in our program book for the Sundae Party. Rest assured that our event will receive publicity (doh, it’s a PR counseling project!), we will be sending out press releases and invitations to the media, and with our line-up of celebs I’m sure there’ll be a good photo opportunity for it to get good coverage in papers. So yeah, contributions of ANY sort would be good :D

I’m so stoked that things are going well..yay!! I have to thank my team of 26 individuals..you guys are doing a great job, this project wouldn’t be as big as it is without each and everyone of you, and thanks for believing in me <3

Audra was a Well-Dressed Scientist in a past life. http://www.quizmeme.com/pastlife/quiz.php

That is correct.

Horror-Movie Fetish


watched this Thai-horror flick Long Khong on Friday with Nadia and Ian..good stuf! no doubt the editing was pretty messy, but it did provide some good spooks. suddenly brought back childhood memories, all those nights scaring myself silly reading True Singapore Ghost Stories (TSGS) and collecting creepy 'real-life' stories from family and friends. Those raya holidays, the Sri Aman behind-the-school-hall sessions..good times! :)

here's the synopsis on GSC's site, couldn't really find anything much on the movie anywhere else.

LONG KHONG

When the reunion of 6 souls commence, a haunting past
binds the ring of friends in an evil world filled with black magic and doom.
What horror previously initiated, now beckons up the 6 lives, rendering them
without a chanced of redemption.

synopsis doesn't do much justice to it but oh oh..didju know it's actually called The Art of the Devil II which means there was a prequel before this! whee! anyway basically the movie's about Cambodian black magic..anything voodoo-related is good with me lah. throw in some live catfish, dirt from someone's foot, scary topless blubbery 'bomoh'..i especially loved the main setting chosen for the movie. emily rose ain't got shit on this movie (well to be honest, never even watched the movie..looked like your average white-horror-fair. my bad.)

well Long Khong wasn't as mind-blowing as Shutter but i loved it all the same. its even got me inspired (yes Pat if you are reading this..another film-idea in the works mwaha!).

another movie i watched yesterday was David Lynch's Oscar nominated Blue Velvet. dude that movie is S.T.R.A.N.G.E. oh and i got to see Isabella Rossellini naked.. woot. but yeah, i so did not know what to expect when Sang recommended that i watch it (coming from you Sang, i shoula known better :P) thought the script was pretty lame tho (a bit like the short film i produced haha) so yeah but seeing that it was produced in 1986..i'll cut it some slack. *starts singing* She wore blue velvetttt.. Bluer than velvet was the nighttt..lol to all you fellas who've got weird fetishes..WATCH it.

Baby wants to fuck! Baby wants to fuck Blue Velvet! - Frank Booth

Alternative movies
Elizabeth John

Jan 22:
It’s still a niche market, but films from non-traditional sources are acquiring a following, ELIZABETH JOHN discovers.

IN a narrow shop lot where endless rows of pirated DVDs line the walls like a multi-coloured wallpaper, a trader pushes forward a folder full of "foreign" language films.

"French. Very romantic one. Look lah," he says extracting one with a cover showing a couple in blissful slumber.It is Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Oscar-nominated film, Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement).The film, which did not make it to the big screen here, is the story of a young woman’s relentless search for her fiancee who disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War I.

In other parts of town, pirates hawk titles from Siberia to South Africa, some in languages we’ve never heard spoken, like Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan.Are pirates cashing in on a new trend among filmgoers?

Some figures seem to indicate that Malaysians are moving from the staple of Hollywood, Bollywood and Hong Kong to something a little more exotic.The French embassy and Alliance Francaise, the French language and culture centre in Kuala Lumpur have jointly organised a film festival every year since 2002.The inaugural week-long screening attracted 960 viewers and, last year, the number reached 3,217.

"Our survey showed that at least half of all seats available during the festival were taken up."This shows that increasing numbers are willing to pay to watch a French film," says Catherine Feuillet-Decourcy, the embassy’s cultural, scientific and co-operation counsellor.

Despite the apparent predominance of English language films, almost half the films, television shows and trailers legally imported are non-English language films. In 2000, they accounted for 40 per cent of legal imports. The bulk of them were Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil and Hindi films.At the time, however, only 21 films, trailers or TV shows were from rarer sources like France, Iran, Tibet, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, according to National Censorship Board’s statistics.This number has doubled since, reaching 42 films last year.

The source countries have grown too, now including Russia, Italy, Spain, the Philippines and Thailand.

There’s no telling how many pirated foreign language films are sold here but checks show a wide selection on offer with the genre depending on clientele — action and thrillers in the city centre and dramas, documentaries and romance in upper-middle class neighbourhoods.

While there may be rising interest in foreign language films, it is still a niche market, says Irving Chee, general manager of Golden Screen Cinemas, home to the International Screens which showcases award-winning, non-mainstream foreign language feature films.He declines to reveal the exact admission figures but says they account for only a small percentage of all screenings. Chinese, Japanese and Korean films do best, says Chee.

Several Iranian films have drawn the crowds, too.Malaysian audiences relate better to Asian culture and are more selective about films from Europe, he says."Some years, we do well and others we don’t but GSC has no intention of closing down International Screens."We believe the market will grow as Malaysia develops and people become more culturally aware."

He says GSC has made foreign language and art house films more accessible and viewing them a far more comfortable affair.

"We’ve created so much interest now, the pirates are following suit," says Chee.

These wily purveyors of stolen goods are a bane for establishments like GSC. Their costs are negligible — no expensive trips to film festivals and no big outlays for the films.And nary is there a drop of sweat over censorship which keeps many a film out of GSC’s International Screens.

They also compete with organisations like Kelab Seni Filem, set up 30 years ago to provide an alternative to commercial cinema.The club screens foreign language films for members at the HELP University College theatrette, among other places.

"Piracy is bad for this industry," says KSF president Wong Tuck Cheong, who has seen the club’s membership fall since the arrival of DVDs and VCDs.

"Unfortunately, we have to admit that it offers the viewer a huge range of titles that others aren’t able to and a new appreciation for the variety out there. That is tough to compete with."

Wong argues that while Malaysians are still a little wary of experimenting with their RM10 —the average cost of movie ticket or a pirated DVD — a growing number are discovering the world of foreign language films and falling in love.Many are college and university students or students of film studies who have moved on to other fields.They are becoming film- savvy and opening up to work from around Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea and Europe.The numerous film festivals held by embassies and foreign cultural organisations in Kuala Lumpur, international travel and study abroad have aided in this evolution.

Access to foreign language films has also begun to have an effect on local independent films with film makers working in the style of foreign directors they admire, adds Wong.The popularity of these films can also be attributed to the dozens of screenings organised by embassies and other organisations in Kuala Lumpur.

European nations come together to organise the European Film Festival, which last year, saw the screening of 25 films.The Spanish and Portuguese embassies, with Filem Negara Malaysia, have screened scores of films during the annual Ibero-American Film Festival. Spanish films are also showcased during the the annual Spanish film festival, at universities and other venues.The Goethe-Institut Kuala Lumpur works with Kelab Seni Film, the Animation Society of Malaysia and student film groups to hold screenings of German films.

These films are gaining attention as they offer viewers something other than the ordinary, says Feuillet-Decourcy.

"Through films the audience gets a glimpse of these far-flung countries, and for at least 90 minutes walks their streets with wonder."

WHAT THE FILM BUFFS SAY

NURUL SYATIRAH ABU SAFRAN, 24, assistant director at a television production company.Nurul Syatirah often watches all the international movies screened.

She keeps an eye on film festivals held throughout the year and her favourite film was the Motorcycle Diaries.Based on a true life story, it traces the adventures of two daring friends who leave their privileged backgrounds and hop on the back of a beat-up motorcycle for an exciting road trip across Latin America.It is often described as a touching and sensitive portrayal of a passage into self acceptance and awareness of the world, and lessons on inequality and poverty.

Inspired, Nurul Syatirah is planning a similar month-long trip through South America this year."I love these movies because they offer us a different view of things."

It’s also a good way to learn a new language."


AUDRA KESUMAWATI ROSLANI, 22, final-year undergraduate.

Audra watches two or three movies a month, or more during semester breaks.

"I find that Hollywood, Bollywood and Hong Kong movies tend to stick to a certain formula, making them almost predictable.

"There are only so many American teen flicks that one can take before we lose the ability to differentiate one from the other."

Audra says international films tend to touch on a wider spectrum of issues, open Malaysian viewers’ minds to things that are alien in our everyday lives.

"I have just watched Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, a documentary on Tibetan-antelope poaching. It was a real eye-opener on the battle to save a beautiful animal species.

"It has changed my outlook on such issues," she says.

Audra visits online forums to keep up with the latest in the scene and will watch a film despite bad reviews, if she likes the subject matter.

She believes independent and non-English language films are gaining a larger audience here because people want to be intellectually stimulated.


YUSMAN MOKHTAR, 25, diploma in theatre, National Arts Academy.

Yusman watches these films at the cinema, on DVD, at the HELP University College and is a regular film festival goer.He doesn’t necessarily prefer such films over the commercial fare but does get tired of the latter after a while."I don’t have the luxury of travelling around the world. So, in a way, I can get to know and ‘feel’ other people and cultures through these movies."Yusman says many art and non-English language films are available in the market, thanks to rising demand.A fan of films like Children of Heaven, Cinema Paradiso and La Vita e Bella, Yusman is also glad that the movies are now being screened on television.


SHAHRUL AZLI, 29, producer at Uniputra Productions.

Shahrul singles out the beautiful stories and superb cinematography as the main attractions.He cites the example of Zhang Yimou’s The Story of Qiu Ju, the tale of an indomitable peasant who rejects compensation money when her husband sustains a groin injury during an argument with a village official.Instead, she undertakes the daunting task of extracting a simple apology from the labyrinth of Chinese bureaucracy.He watches only one film a month and wishes he had more free time to catch a couple more.A movie-maker himself, Shahrul follows the works of directors, producers and scriptwriters he admires and occasionally picks up a title that has received rave reviews from film critics. "Having them screened in local cinemas also exposes the public to such films."

Read it here!

I'm baaackk :)

hello my little cabagges..sorry for not having updated my blog in yonks! haven't had much access to the internet since lightning struck my home pc *boohoo* tis now being repaired, so til then, its uni labs and travelling back n forth to my sisters place. to make matters worse, i've been elected as President of our final semester Public Relations Counselling Project..of all the luck! having to correspond with a million and one different people through e-mail and NOT have home internet access is b.a.n.a.n.a.s. i swear i can't remember life before the gloriousness of the internet came along. some mornings, i still switch on the pc and play a little solitaire..just to feel close to my pc. yep. but all is well now that school has started and i don't have the luxury of idle time. sigh.

anyways, pretty excited about our project. proposed a celeb book-reading session for pre-schoolers, and what started out as a humble one-day event has now blossomed into a full-fledged campaign! will elaborate further as more details have been confirmed, but for now the proposal is still being updated by the hour sooo..yeah.

oh you know who designed this ;)

in other news..got interviewed by New Sunday Times journalist through e-mail about a week back on foreign films and such. have yet to see it publish *bleh*

have another interview this Saturday at Petronas for something else. once again will elaborate when things have been confirmed (and no, its not a proper job thing hah!). will also have to meet up with the gallery owner of Galleri Iizu to confirm our book-reading session which will be held there. Details to be posted up soon..but do keep the 2nd of April free! k more updates coming, sorry if I haven't been able to meet up with some of you..soon I promise!!

"Being the wife of Diego is the most marvelous thing in the world. I let him play matrimony with other women. Diego is not anybody's husband and never will be, but he is a great comrade."

- Frida Kahlo

He came from the planet of Soy, that cool guy Kikkoman.

God bless the Japanese! came across a whole bunch of weird animated/video clips today..damn Japanese people rock! some of the stuff are pretty dated so you might have seen them already, but i totally love how i found Kikkoman again! and also "All your base are belong to us"..classic Engrish! anyway i'm putting this up as more of a bookmark reference for myself but if you have the time (or looking to kill time) do, do give these links a visit. thou shall not regret!

yo Kikkoman that ain't right yo

• Kikkoman (i LOVE this)
• All Your Base Are Belong To Us (the origins of Engrish)
• Japanese Matrix Ping-Pong (this is so original!)
• Zombo.com (this had Adib and I in stitches)
• Smurfette parties hard (proving Donnie Darko's theory wrong! Poppa Smurf yo dawg, uh huh!)
• We Come in Peace (deediditee..*geg*)

ok that be it for now. hope ya'll like these as much as i do *starts singing* show me...show youu..kikkomannng..kikkomanng *laughs at fish with legs*

i am fish with legs. no i am soy bottle. i am whatever u want me to be..baby, yeah.

of goatmen and paedophiles.

i am in loveeeeeeeeeee...yes in loveeeeee..with a goatmannnnnn *gets all dreamy-eyed*

small children not enough for you mr tumtum?

that curly hair, those floppy ears, the devil-like hooves..dammit even that hairy back works for him! yes i am talking about non-other than Mr Tumnus - the fawn from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe himself! Narnia certainly did not dissapoint! sure some bits at the beginning might've been abit stretchy for some, but I felt that Andrew Adamson did a great job of sticking to the original. watching it made me extremely happy to the extent of being overwhelmed coz it just brought back so many of my childhood memories *tears* that the minute i got back from the cinema i texted my sis in to go see it (ysee back in the day when we used to split up characters ie. Betty and Veronica, i was supposed to be Lucy and she Susan in this case). my fave scenes were everything with Tumnus (goes without saying) especially when Lucy first meets him, the Turkish Delight ones with Ice Bitch, Aslan and also the stone table scene. Oh and did you SEE the chemistry between Tumnus and Lucy..i tell you, that paedophilic goat can come knock hooves with me N.E. day ;)

Interested in getting some hooves for yourself? then give this site a visit Hooves-R-Us: How to build your own hooves

Anyway, here's a picture of Mr Handsome without all that fur and er...floppy things. quite droolsome ain't he?

James McAvoy

So yeah, i'm quite surprised that i haven't caught any of his previous movies..think i shall start with Wimbledon seeing how it's the most obvious one of the lot. ok enough of my childhood fantasies, i'm hungry. time for shiitake shrooms!

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. - C.S. Lewis

You poop into my butt hole and I poop into your butt hole... back and forth... forever.

woish been awhile hasn't it! about time i started blogging again..but where oh where do i begin! well for starters, i have officially started my semester break and yes, that wretched piece of academic writing has been submitted as of 02 December 2005 (Friday)..whoopdedo!

which means i've finally got the time to catch up on my film-watching sessions as well as those books i've been meaning to read for yonks! after much putting off, i am only now (rather ashamedly) reading Memoirs of a Geisha which has been rotting on the shelves. i figure its first off in the list so that i finish it on time before the movie comes out sometime end of this year/early next year. bummer that there aren't any japanese in the main movie line-up. tsk. bookwise - so far, so good! its got me hooked, and i really like Nitta Sayuri's perspective on things. i know its abit ostentatious to liken myself to her (you can roll your eyes here), but it just gets me all in high spirits whenever i meet or hear of someone who sees things with the innocence a child's point of view. thats right folks, embrace your inner child! anyway, here's to hoping i won't be dissapointed by the ending.

film-wise, paid my faithful dvd man a visit this week and got Crash and Mountain Patrol. i've watched the latter and i have to say i quite like it. started off slow and i almost dozed off surprisingly halfway through out the show (to be fair, it was a sweltering hot day), but it was one of those films that left me feeling..well feeling something, i'm not quite sure what. amixture of sadness, anger at the unfairness of the world..and angry at fur-wearing fashionistas! yes i knew wearing fur was cruel to the animals, but i never quite imagined that for every poacher was someone trying to prohibit them out of the goodness and pureness of their hearts. i sound so storybook but its truee! WATCH this movie and you'll get what i mean. all those deaths..and for what..so some woman can come off looking lush and 'classy' in dead animals skin. pft. there are other ways of doing that missy.

click on picture to play jLo: Fur Bully from the Block

besides Mountain Patrol, also watched Maria Full of Grace (HBO original film about drug-'mules') which was also very good, and Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know. wasn't too bad, but i guess i had some rather high expectations after seeing the coverage on CNN's entertainment section. there were some good bits tho (loved some of the quotes, the title of this post should give you a rough idea), buuttt..eh, didn't really do anything for me.

ok before u go rushing off to your dvd man, there's no nudity. you have been warned.

anyhoo, am excited about tomorrow..i'm watching the midnite show for the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe!!!!! and from the reviews i've read..it looks like its gonna be good! omg omg omg i so can't wait to see Aslan and Mr Tumnus..and even the White Witch!! is she gonna say "Turrkissshh deeeliggghttt..turkisshh deeligghhtt!"?? haha i'm sucha geek but who gives a shit.

the version i remember watching..good stuff!

ok back to the real world, still haven't got new year plans coz now i mite be going with Viv to Christmas Island for Christmas (yes, population 800 and no newspapers ive been told) for red crabs! and if that happens, then new years will have to be in KL. sigh. oh well, do let me know your plans! the good news is that everyone would be back in KL then..ah..lets see what drama should unfold this time around..eh?


I would love to believe in a universe where you wake up and don't have to to go to work and you step outside and meet two beautiful 18-year-old sisters who are also girlfriends and are also very nice people. - Me and You and Everyone We Know