The Projects Page

My two newest projects have just been finished and can be seen on the Projects page (check the tabs!).

It's been an exhausting few days but I'm more than satisfied with the end products. Hopefully I can keep this going and not go back into a creative slump once my college semester starts.

I'm even thinking of trying out 8 bit / electronic music.

If that works out it'll be awesome.

Day 3 of Living Without You

After a tiring day of shooting the video for "Hidup Tanpamu" and withstanding the freezing cold Indiana weather, we found a perfect spot to cover Kodaline's All I Want - on the top floor of a parking lot stair case. We just couldn't resist as the echoes made it that more epic.

Enjoy!

The Boilermakers

The first day of video shooting and I took some time to take some pictures around the Purdue University campus.

Songs of 2012

With the coming of the new year, it's time to say goodbye to 2012.

And what better to send it off than to list the best songs I've heard from the past year.

Note that these songs aren't necessarily published in 2012; they might be from a movie I've just recently watched or maybe from an album or a band I've never listened to before this past year.

And it's going to be a classic top 10 :)

Enjoy as I repeatedly overuse adjectives.

#10. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz - Thrift Shop

Now here's a song that just makes me want to dance. I don't usually enjoy songs that have gone mainstream, but Thrift Shop is just something else: pure, creative lyrics with a natural and catchy beat. Kudos to the duo for making it to the top of the itunes album sales charts, an amazing feat for an independent act. Sure some people blame the declining overall album sales, but it still takes something special and Macklemore is definitely that.

#9 Muse - Panic Station

Yes, Muse's sound has changed a lot with 2nd Law, and I can't say that I enjoy every song in the album. But Panic Station is incredible; proof that Muse still has potential to churn out hard hitting songs. I'm no expert, but I can definitely hear a heavy Queen influence in the bass licks and vocals, something that I welcome very much.

#8 Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil & Gene Pritsker - Cloud Atlas End Title

I'll be honest here: definitely an epic movie, but not the best I've seen by a long shot (it has the best trailer ever though). Yet the soundtrack just blew me away. Just the pure simplicity of it, the way it radiates love and desperation, without trying too hard to impress. Whenever I listen to this, I feel inspired to take the leap and be brave for once, and embrace life as it is a beautiful thing.  

#7 Andrew Bird - Imitosis

This song led to my discovery of the song-writing magician Andrew Bird. His original sound and the fact that he is a very capable multi-instrument musician just furthers my awe of the man. Definitely one that deserves more recognition than he is getting.

#6 Joe Hisaishi - Spirited Away Reprise 

The way I found this movie was by an amazing stroke of chance: I was searching in the discount bin in Blockbuster as a young lad and happened to come across this gem. It was definitely fate. The genius of Miyazaki's animation paired with Hisaishi's brilliant scoring is a match made in heaven and this masterpiece is definitely one to savor. I put this in the 2012 charts because I only recently found the reprised version of the main theme, with a melody (0:01-0:33) that I've been looking around for for a long time.

#5 Punch Brothers - Clara

2012 was definitely a year for my discovery indie folk, catalyzed most probably by this song. There's just something about folk music that just hits the feels for me. Maybe it's the smooth and sultry lyrics, or the creativity in the music. Any way or another, I've become a huge fan and am definitely remaining one for a long time.


#4 The Killers - Miss Atomic Bomb

The Killers never fail to impress. This song is another recent gem that gives epic a new meaning. Sure, you could say otherwise, and maybe my definition of epic isn't as demanding as others, but Brandon's vocals and the delicious use of the floor toms make for an amazing song. Apparently the video acts as a prequel to Mr. Brightside, and if you listen carefully you'll hear the riff from Mr. Brightside in this song.


#3 Mika - Elle Me Dit 

I'm never one to be too critical of an artist's sound change, but Mika dissapointed me with his latest album. I miss the days of Life in Cartoon Motion where you could listen to the whole album without needing to skip songs; it was that brilliant. Nevertheless, this song is a representation of the Mika I love: a massive vocal range, a catchy chorus, and great music to match


#2 Kodaline - All I want

This is a gem that definitely deserves more recognition.  The emotion that this song channels really touches you deep, before hitting you with a finale that will give anyone an ear-gasm. I really hope to see more from this band, especially if every song is going to be this good.

#1 Jukebox The Ghost - Schizophrenia

Jukebox the Ghost is hands-down the best band I've ever accidentally discovered. Their combination of creative piano riffs and unique vocals encapsulates nearly everything I hope from a band's sound. I had to choose a favorite out of many great songs, so I chose this one as it best represents what I love so much about Jukebox the Ghost. As one anonymous youtube user once put it: it just shows what pop music can achieve if some effort was put into it.

Honorable Mentions

I made this list out of pure randomness, so there are a few that I'm sure that I've missed. But here are songs that were brilliant but just missed the cut.

Imagine Dragons - On Top Of The World
The Lumineers - Big Parade
Garry Schyman - Trip The Light (feat. Alicia Lemke)
Jason Mraz - Frank D. Fixer
Linkin Park - Until It Breaks
Alabama Shakes - I Ain't The Same
New Heights - Time

Day 2 of Living Without You

The camera stabilizer we're going to use for today's video shoot.

Hope the weather is good.

Snow-Alien

Somebody made this Snow sculpture of a Dalek from the Dr. Who series!

Extra points to you if you knew that without me telling.

Day 1 of Living Without You

It's 5 a.m. and I still haven't slept yet.

Who'd guess that recording a song is so damn hard and time consuming?

The music is all done, and just the vocals remain. Tomorrow there'll be a video shoot and then PRESTO! a song is done.

Watch this space.

A Little Elbow Grease

I love it when I get a new project. And this is my newest one: An Ibanez SA electric guitar that I got for $80.

It's far from being in perfect condition, and I have to polish and fix everything back to its prime. I'm even thinking of painting the guitar a deep red to cover to cover the cracks on the sides.

I've never done guitar restoration before (I've never even owned an electric guitar), but there's always a first time for anything :)

Amazon Fever #3

Logitech earphones and a case for my S3 :)

Have a free Shaq!

Rather than do what I should be doing now and that is studying, I decided to go absolutely bonkers and  randomly spam everyone on twitter and facebook with this amazing meme of Mr Shaquille O'neal.

Go ahead, copy the URL and spread Shaq-happiness to all your friends!

Their reactions are worth it.

Now to get back to the books :(

#SandyHook

NY Giants tribute to Sandy Hook Elementary School on their helmets

For my research paper this semester I wrote about gun control in college campuses and how the legalization of guns brings many consequences to society. In the process I learnt about the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. Having to write about the tragedy made writing the paper that much harder.

I feel bad for not praying that it wouldn't happen again.

The worst thing about Sandy Hook is not about the deceased. It's the people who have to live with the tragedy The schoolteachers who have to go back to work. The parents who lost their children and are afraid to let the others go. The kids who had to see their friends die with their own eyes. You can't really justify pitying the dead; those who live with what happened have it worse.

But I'm not one to comment, I can't relate. I lost a friend* when I was a senior in high school, yet his death - as tragic as it was - cannot be compared with the maliciousness of a school shooting. The emotional burden is much, much worse.

And I feel sorry for Mr. Obama. Watching him on the news, I could see the emotional burden he is carrying after having to deal with so many shootings and killings, each one happening so soon after the one before. Maybe now they'll be some sort of gun control. But honestly, I really doubt it.

Nevertheless, these things happen everyday. Not just recently, mind you.

You cannot escape the fact that thousands upon thousands of innocent people both young and old have died in Gaza. Don't try to find a difference between what happened at Sandy Hook to what is happening in Palestine. Nobody has a death wish. I don't wish at all to get political or spark debate, but I wouldn't be human if I'm to ignore this fact.

Yet Sandy Hook still remains a terrible tragedy no matter what. My prayers go out to the deceased, and  more importantly the living who are shadowed by the trauma.

*Al-fatihah to my friend Engku who passed away sooner than anyone could have hoped

Now Playing

These days, I have no clue what to blog about. And to makes things worse, finals are coming up so I have don't time to ponder on about it. So instead I'm posting some songs that are accompanying me through these exam blues :)

 

Mr Music Man

"He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath... Roar of delight at her arrival... She joins the diabolical orgy... The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches. The dance of the witches combined with the Dies irae."

An excerpt from an analysis of Berlioz's "Symphony fantastique mvmt. 5" for the final music exam.

Yes you read that right. Diabolical orgy. Honestly, it's the last place I would expect to find the word orgy.

As you would imagine, I didn't understand what in the world I was reading, and, instead of pushing on to achieve success, I just flung my notes aside and threw my fate into the wind.

The exam itself was epic. I don't think I did well, mind you, but it was epic nonetheless.

Exams are the only time that the music class is full. Nobody really goes to the lectures; I myself haven't been to any music lecture in 3 months. When all the students were in and ready for the test, the professor smiled and said

"To most of you, welcome to Music 005."

It hurt, but damn right I laughed.

The questions were the usual mix of easy and hard, but the bonus question made my day.

It's a listening test, so what you do is listen to an excerpt and answer the appropriate question. The bonus question was:

Who wrote this piece?

a) John Cage
b) Somebody I can't remember
c) Somebody I don't know
d) Some Russian Guy

Okay, I can only remember the first name.

Everybody waited for the music to play, literally at the edge of their seats.

Total silence.

At first I thought it was a technical error, but then the professor just said there and watched the bewildered faces.

Suddenly, I realized the trick question.

It's John Cage's 4'33''.

Just wait for the bass to drop

Which is one of the most arse-faced moves in the history of music. The silence is the song. Imagine paying top money to see your favorite artist just sit there and not do anything.

The only reason I knew this piece is because YouTube had a tribute to John Cage after his recent passing.

No offence to the guy but it's the most I've ever benefited from someone's death.

Mr Cage.

After two sessions of silence the professor told everyone to hand in their papers, much to the dismay of many who waited for something to play.

Sure, the exam sucked. But my day was still made :)

Blog Makeover : Update

I just realized that the blog design looks different on different resolutions, so if you an't see Paul you're going to have to zoom out a little. I know this sucks but I guess that's just one of many Blogger's limitations. My laptop runs 1920x1080 so any smaller you won't immediately see the design.

The final product should be this:

By the way, I'm working on the design on Fatin Syahiera's blog "Fingerprints" and hope to have it done soon. Watch this space.

Blog Makeover

What do you think of the new blog design?

I've been mucking about with it since last night and I'm finally happy with it now.

Since I don't know how to actually draw and lack the tools to do so, the cartoons you see here are off the internet. I just changed them a little and gave them personality :)

The header is my 'Stamp of Approval' (as if anyone needed my approval for anything). I know it's a bit vain having your own stamp, but indulge me will you?

The background design I think is brilliant *pats own back*. The chicken in the background, who looks over the blog, is Paul the Rooster - because all chickens (should) have human names. And I decided to go with a winter theme because over here in State College it's the winter season. Which means a heck load of snow very soon.

I hope you like the new design ^___^

12/12/12

The last repeating date. It's not like I'm going to have a second chance to blog on another repeating date, eh? (Unless of course, I live up to 107)

So here's my best attempt to conjure up a post without much inspiration.

Actually I don't have to 'conjure' up anything because I found an old poem on my profile at the Young Writer's Society website.

I think this is the perfect poem for the moment as I miss Malaysia so much, and because it reflects my love of folk music. 

Enjoy!

The market is bustling.

Rows of stalls, gleaming bright lights,

Cries from vendors, buyers alike,

Smoke rising, filling the still night air,

Food made and sold nearly everywhere.

One Char Kuey Teow, maybe some apam too,

Wrapped in newspaper, just for you.

Whatever the want, whatever the need,

Nobody lost in the jungle of greed.

The busker stops and lays down his hat,

Pulls out his guitar and takes a step back.

Almost invisible, lost in the crowd,

Nobody notices as he starts to sing out loud.

He sings in time with the strumming of his guitar,

Songs found locally, songs from afar.

Melody and harmony, with poise and grace,

The busker sings every word with a smile on his face.

A man and a woman could not help overhear,

The beautiful music ringing in the air,

They stop upon seeing the bright young man,

Appreciating the talent shining in front of them.

Soon more people stop and a crowd begins to gather,

The Busker's hat heavier than ever,

Vendors stop working to join the crowd,

As the Busker sings even more loud.

For that one moment, the market is quiet,

No more chaos, no more riot.

Everyone listening to songs of love and peace,

Their hearts calm, their minds at ease.

But all good things do not last long,

And the Busker starts his final song.

A song about wars and cries unheard,

Finally, the Busker sings the final word.

He stops and smiles, and clapping ensues,

whistles and cheering, cries of ' I love you '.

But soon the crowd reduces in size,

As people return to their daily lives,

And after the Busker shakes hands with the final fan,

He scoops his hat and counts the money in hand,

Again he is invisible, lost in the scheme,

As if nothing had happened, as if it were all a dream.

The Busker picks himself up and walks away,

Ready to come back and sing on another day.

*Note: Photo is not mine

It's a "Poster"

My Academic Poster for ESL Class. Looks more like an Infographic -____-'

Simple Little Project

For Natasha's commercial project I decided to do a commercial that promoted the use of LionChat, a made-up messaging service not dissimilar to email.

The idea is to show how long the message would take if it were sent traditionally by mail, in this case symbolized by a travelling envelope.

The end product was far from perfect (this is my first try at stop motion), but considering that we finished it in under an hour without any time for retakes or planning, I'd say it's good enough - at least for a good grade in English Class.

The song is "Someday" by Hundred Little Reasons, a song made famous by the "I am Maru" video on Youtube.

By the way, please ignore the quite obvious black string. Oops.

Subuh

I miss dawn in Malaysia.

Especially in kampung where I would wake up for Subuh (Morning prayer) and everything would be dark and cool. But it was never quiet, there were always the sounds of crickets and toads playing the morning symphony and footsteps shuffling around on wooden floorboards. If grandma was up she'd be making breakfast in the kitchen while the adults would be making trademark teh tarik in plastic flasks. Bubbles the cat would also be up at this time too, lying on the cool concrete kitchen floor. She's there waiting for food as usual.

An image of a village mosque in Malaysia. I don't own this image. 

I would take wudu' with freezing cold water, but it feels good so no hurry in wiping it off. I need every help in keeping awake anyway; all I would think about is sleep and the comfort of the couch in front of the TV where'd I'd normally sleep. I used to sleep with my parents in the room, but because I'm all grown up I get to choose where to sleep. But I didn't sleep there because of the TV. I wanted the big fan that was nice - if you had a blanket to keep warm.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah

Sometimes after salam I'd sit there and stare outside through the cracks in the shutters. Not I could really see anything, it was really dark. But if I looked carefully I could see the silhouette of the coconut trees dancing in the breeze.

After prayer I would drift back to sleep, not knowing that I would one day miss this routine.

Cute Cat Alert!

Guess what? I'm gonna blog about CUTE CATS.

Why? Because I love cute cats. And have the balls to say so. Deal with it.

I used to have up to 35 cats in my house, but then my mom decided to sell nearly all of them. To be fair, she was the reason we had 35 cats in the house in the first place. It got up to the point that everyone else in the family got immune to seeing a new cat in the house. We didn't even stop to ask "Who the hell is that?", which was the normal reaction for the first ten cats.

Now I'm left with two. It would have been three if my favorite cat Ryan didn't die. The worst part is that he died so untragically that I kind of feel that he died of out of pure bloody laziness. But I still miss him. He was a cat version of me: lazy, uninterested and but snugly as hell.

I now present to you the only two cats left: Sharpay and her son Liam.

I have no idea why the have human names; my little sister names them -___-'. I would honestly have preferred more generic names such as Snowball or Cuddles. Or maybe Cat.

I should point out that I'm not at home right now, and I'm only going to be able to snuggle these furballs next year in May when I head back home :)

Saxophones Down South

I was at Redifer Commons for dinner when I bumped into a group of saxophonists playing a lovely tune. The recording quality isn't that great due to the microphone quality, but believe me it was quite beautiful.

This makes me really miss my old orchestra days, when every night was filled with music and joy :(

And just to make this post longer, here's a picture of McElwain Hall in the snow.

Next Stop: Happiness

Atototototot~~

I admit it - I'm a sucker for a good animation.

Especially when it has a great story like Wreck-it-Ralph.

I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it before, but I'l just say that the plot has so many twist and turns that it kept me hooked until the end.

I was especially hooked on the theme - Happiness

Happiness is a part of human life, an emotion that comes and goes like all emotions do. Even in the worst situations, our minds have a backup system that allows us to feel happiness after a while. If you don't believe me, watch the documentary "Happy" (It's on Netflix). Believe me, it's worth your time.

There are other facts too, like how money does not necessarily equal happiness, and how we feel the most happy when we are loved. I could go on and on, but do yourself (and me) a favor by watching the documentary..

But there is something else about happiness that eludes me.

You see, I've been trying to lose weight for a long time, and I admit it's in hope that I'll finally get girls to like me. It's not going that well (I'm still single), but that's not my point.

When I first started, at 160kg, I told myself I'd be happy if I just lost a bit of weight. Then I got to 140kg, but I still wasn't happy. So the next target was 120kg and a size 42 waist. I reached it, and still I wasn't happy at all. Flash forward a couple of months and about 5 targets later, I have now lost enough weight to shape another person out of my lost fat. But am I happy? No. 

I'm telling myself now if I get to 80kg I'll be happy. But I kind of know that I won't.

To tell you the truth, I haven't been truly happy in a long time. I've changed my body, but the emotional stress that comes with losing weight and hoping that my life changes drastically took a toll on my mind. 

A song that always makes me happy. Yes I'm a coldplay fan, deal with it.

Before the weight loss, I was really a jolly chap. Not that I didn't care at all that I was fat, it's just that it didn't really bother me. I didn't have a goal for my happiness, I just embraced it as it came and went. But things change. As I started to target each weight goal as a gateway to happiness, I became blind to the little things in life: that warmth in your heart during prayer, a good song whilst caught in the rain, having fun with friends; that kind of thing,

I used to love the little things. And I took pride in it.

Now all I am is cynical and spiteful; always comparing myself to other people.  That's just not right.

To find happiness, it must be treated as an emotion, not a destination. It'll come and go; when it leaves, don't forget that it'll come back. If you hope that it will come with an achievement and will stick around forever, you'll just be disappointed.

Now I'm not saying that weight loss (or whichever goal) is pointless and bad. It has it's benefits. Just make sure it doesn't take over your life, because noticing and appreciating the little things will bring you the most amount of happiness.

And most importantly; SMILE :)

Change :)

Gigantic me on the far left

I was looking through my old Facebook pics when I came across this.

WTFWHYAMISOBLOODYHUGE!

That was me at the peak of my obesity, at 160kg.

Goodness how times have changed.

I'm not exactly thin per se, but I've improved a lot from then. I actually have a face now.

In total, I have lost 65kg, making me a respectable 95kg.

Another 15 to go, and I'll be happy (I hope)

 

Me sandwiched between Elmo and Minnie

Ramblings

When I did this blog, I did it for self relief. So I'm going to bloofy well do a bit of self relief.

And whoever read that in another way, grow up damn it.

First things first: New York.

Pictures taken by Fatin Syahiera

Great city, great views, great people.

With oddly very cheerful homeless people.

But I didn't have a great time. 

I didn't sleep. Which makes me very cranky. 

By crankyness here I mean everything, from noises to people, will seem ten times more annoying than they really are. Up to the point where murder seems like a good idea.

But nothing I can't handle. Not like I haven't been sleep deprived before.

I would have been fine, with my dignity still intact, if only one certain son of a bitch could keep his bloody mouth shut. Because of him, I started to have sharp painful headaches every time he spoke, reminiscent of being hit in the head with a van. Many, many times.

Let's talk about friends.

Contrary to popular belief, I CAN be a good friend. And one way I act like a good friend is pretending that my friend's boyfriend is bearable even though he is one giant turd. 

But I've had enough. This certain turd has gone too turdy. 

I very rarely hate people. I'm now making an exception. Sorry bud, but I'd rather have a colonoscopy via my nose than see you again. 

I know it's bad karma. At least I'm not mentioning names.

Another thing about friends; I really miss my best friend. I rarely use that term, being a faux-macho guy, but then he really is the best friend I'll ever have. He's a brother to me. 

At the same time, he's the stupidest friend I have. Here's the thing: he's smart, smarter than me. If he actually bloody worked hard during Form 4 and not sleep his sorry ass away, he'd be with me, here in the United States, continuing our studies. We'd probably pick the same college. I know I would have. And I would be a totally different person: happy, confident, and charismatic. 

Ya Allah, I miss the dude so bad. If you're reading this, Imran Kadir, I just want to let you know that you're an ARSE.

Where was I? 

Ah yes, the trip. 

I had fun.

And that's about it. Nothing much to say.

Instead, I'm going to talk about emotions.

Again, contrary to popular belief, I do have emotions. Real emotions. Especially emotions towards other people. 

Now, the thing about emotions is that you really have no control of them. You learn how to adapt to them, but that's about it. I'm not talking scientifically of course, so don't go pointing to some b.s. psych study. FYI, I read them too.

One thing I do know for sure is this:

If you don't want to think about a person, don't bloody well go and spend time with them.

Sure, repressing feelings and hiding emotions isn't the most courageous and manliest thing I'll ever do. But I'd rather do that and not regret anything. Don't take advice from me though. You're probably more handsome, charismatic and better in every way than me, so go right ahead. 

Sorry, I'm not me lately.

So many things just don't make sense anymore. I haven't been creative in a long time and frankly I'm losing my self-identity. I'm nothing but a fat dude in big ass glasses at the moment. I really need something to feel like ME again.

Silver lining: I'm heading to Purdue to meet up with my producer (cheh!) during the winter break and we're gonna get damn creative.

I really do hope so. because I spent $200 on the bloody tickets alone.

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken Fajitas, straight from a Jamie Oliver recipe.

I know they don't look like much, but honestly they tasted great.

And they kept me full. And alive for that matter.

So who am I to complain?

Home Italian Cooking

I haven't been blogging much lately.

Not that I've given up on it. I've just been too tired to do so.

I'm spending my Fall break in New Jersey this year, and it's been great.

Even had time for some cooking :)

It's basically spaghetti with seafood, peppers, mushrooms and tomato sauce.

I call it Spageti Bujang (Bachelor's Spaghetti)

Not the best, but  it turned out okay. If only I had meat it would have been much better.

Oh well, it'still a good meal for the night.

I'm really looking forward to New York tomorrow!

Science & Faith

I've never been to a concert before, and I'm glad this was my first. The Script were amazing. Since it was their last stop on tour, you could just feel them going all out. Danny's vocals were awesome live, much better than in the album. Who in the world is stupid enough to say The Script aren't awesome live?

I'm no concert expert, but I know how to tell which bands are good. And The Script are awesome.

But too bad the crowd was quite terrible. Honestly, where are all the guys? There were only girls and old people in sight. Come on guys, The Script are a great band who play great music. Don't let them go down in history as a pretty boy band who no-one will remember.

Now that's one down on my bucket list. Next up: Muse, Coldplay, Snow Patrol and maybe The Killers. 

Philly!

Philly. Trip. Was. Awesome.

So many things happened in Philadelphia I don't know where to begin.

So I'll just start at the end.

Me and my friend missed the 11 o'clock bus back to State College and had to take the 4 o'clock Greyhound instead. Another $18 out of my pocket :(

Having nothing to do, we went around Philly city center one last time.

At the city hall we were approached by a pair of preachers trying to make us believe in the Mother God belief (I don't know what's it called)

I don't want to go into detail, but the dude who tried converting me sure was a stubborn s.o.b. who didn't listen to my opinions and changed the topic every time I had a point. I had to cover my WTFJUSTSHUTUPIDONTHAVETIMEFORTHIS face.

But it didn't bother me, really. People have their own opinions.

Next, we visited the famous Reading Terminal market, which was near Chinatown. We stopped by Penang for some good ol' Malaysian food. Honestly, it wasn't that good, but you can't say no to food from home :)

More pictures and concert footage to come. My phone was out of battery most of the time so I never had the chance to take that many photographs :(