rechallenged the addiction

A fair share of movie over the long weekend, perferably nothing to do with work, in which case is quite rare in my schedule for the past few weeks. Other than the supposed plan of house-hunting and weekend sex, I did none of it yet. Saturday is coming to an end and sitting alone in Coffeebean delivering the most un-happening lifestyle ever. Thus enough of my story and refresh the story of the movies I’ve watched since noon time. Today I participated in the international movie marathon (not that there’s anything like that ever exist, somewhat like a marathon on movies like Matrix and Lord of the Ring. I know it can be morbid!

Mon petit doigt m’a dit (By the Pricking of My Thumbs), a fictional drama. Wicked. Mysterious. Everything but ordinary. It was a twisted version of one of those adverturous storybook you read when you are young. The plot is simple. But simple is good, especially when you are watching a movie that you have to constantly read the subtitles. It is not the only reason for the like of its simplicity. Simple speech. Simple country scene. Simple casts. Simple police-and-theif investigation. Simple homocide. But then again like many simplicity that we know, it hides the greatest extraordinary of all. Somewhat like how a small tranquil town is never as soothing and calm as it seems.

The next movie (with a barely 15-minute break) - Je vous trouve très beau (You are so beautiful), a sensible comedy. Unlike big production with famous screenwriter, producer, director, actor, this is nothing like it. This is a production with little mentioned, unrecognizable casts, and probably a novella script. Yet oddly it stirs the emotion of an audience in every inch possible. It is beautifully created with minimal accessories. It is made for everyone. By that, I mean everyone would be smiling by the end of the show. And would probably say it is a lovely story. And it is.

And finally before my retreat to the wireless, Fauteuils d’orchestre (Avenue Montaigne) kicks in with a enjoyable, light-hearted, passionate movie. The exciting city of Paris, so razzle dazzle. How magnificent. But behind the tuxedo and mink, there is the unrevealing truth of human struggle, of gratifying moment, of loving passion, of undying memory, of undeniable success, of family value. I trust that you will be applauding to the drama on screen as well as the drama in shown. Bon Appetite!

Much has been debated over the previous weeks. Initially banned, to unbanned, to censored, to selected screening. The increasing anticipation of it has the effect of not buying any popcorn or coke for fear that the sound of crunchiness and slurpiness would affect this long-waited film.

Tsai Ming-Liang disected the glamorous Twin-Tower  city of Kuala Lumpur without the need to unconsciously shooting Twin Tower as the background. A friend commented that no one will be able to differentiate whether this was shot in Malaysia since the icon of KL is not in it. However like Germany has its Berlin wall, we have our Pudu Prison wall. It was undoubtedly the best scene to capture.

Li Kang-Seng, his prodigy, once again portrayed a questioningly complicated individual. It was exclaimed in a recent interview that the chemistry between Tsai and Li is the reason of the continuous filming effort. It is the fruit of passion. It doesn’t take long for anyone to realize the film has an impressive element. It details the much-desirable city scene, with over-populated migrants, destructive family, oddity of money-making, chaotic political instability, socio-economical disparity, comercialized sexual favors, and deafening cultures. It may be an unrecognised impact of Kuala Lumpur by the people sitting at Putra Jaya, but it is nothing new to the majority residents like you and me. In fact what the film does is to raise the familarity that we will never in any life-time see in any hollywood production.

The rest of the cast was efficiently characterized. Pearlly Chua has the indispensable aura even in her un-GLAMOROUS wardrobe. Chen Shiang-Chyi (also starred in 2005’s Tian Bian Yi Duo Yun, 2003’s Bu Jian Bu San, 2001’s Ni Nei Bian Ji Dian, 1997’s He Liu - all of which are also directed by Tsai) depicted a disturbing girl who desired to be noticed, to be touched, to be loved (don’t we all). She has that incredible feature of attracting the viewers’ eyes to follow her every movement.

And what would a review be without the needle-in-the-haystack character - Norman Atun. His cut-throat scene (spoiler) has won the admiration of the people I went to watch with, which is quite an achievement considering these people have high expectation for movies. I too was touched by his small but endearing performance. And it suddenly made clear of why Tsai selected him to play the role. The appearance does help. But it was more of a protruding definition of Norman that made him a cast instead of the satay-seller at the next stall.

This is probably a long time since I blog anything remotely close to “fun” over the weekend. Though sex does count as fun too, but sadly didn’t have any. Alexis, usually packed to the door, over some jazzy renditions. I was there with a friend, dining over the finest wine. The maitre d’ was unusually friendly and attentive. I don’t dine in fancy restaurant every weekend, so it was quite refreshing to be treated to a decorated plate and proper silverwares.

The evening started smoothly with pleasant pre-recorded music playing at the backdrop, with the occasional diners strolling in. Oddly (or to no surprise) I was extremely horny at night. I was eye-ing every guy in the restaurant. I wasn’t even aware I was doing it until my friend pointed out that I better stop it before anyone sues me for visual assault. Then the night drew on and the players got ready.

Pete Teo, the man of the house, nicely welcomed the crowd and his three other sidekicks. First to amuse the night was Azmyl Yunor. But I wasn’t the least bit amused. Though the the next player (Reza Salleh) did the trick, it wasn’t as good as I expected. An acquaimtance of mine - Jerome Kugan - took the mic. By this time I was somewhat disappointed. Perhaps it was the over-selling image of how good a songwriter he is, or perhaps it was the sound system, or perhaps it was me being over-bearingly critical of local talents (since I don’t have any). I had to visit the loo to calm my agitation.

By the time I planted my arse back on the seat again, Pete was up. I do have to admit I was slightly moved by his song. The show took a circular motion between the four guys. Azmyl was stuttering too much. Jerome was depressingly unconvincing. Pete was anticipatingly average. But Reza proved to be different. He was charmingly calm and soulful. I had mental orgasm when he sang “you are sweet and beautiful”. The tune was flawless and it was oblivious that the crowd was disgesting his every word, pleased with the piece. And I wasn’t the exaggerating or being biased. The applaud was evidently sounded!

I also bumped into Shanon Shah, in which embarassingly I had to apologize for not making for his show the other night. The night pretty much carried on after midnight. But for me and my friend, we were ready to retire. And all I dreamt of later that night is that the best is usually at the end… and of cos the fantasy of me stroking my David (guitar… if only I own one and can play) and breaking into the voice of Frank Sinatra… it shall remains a dream.

I am 33 year old! That is what the canggih skin detector said. I had my skin and complexion check yesterday. The machine read that I am older than my original birth age based on the microscopic skin cells of mine. It is somewhat like how health expert telling your real body age on Oprah! Being the sensible guy that I am, I didn’t behave like a drama queen upon hearing the unflatterring turth or smack the machine to pieces. So in that desperate moment of regaining my youth, the skin specialist proudly took out her spell book (product catalog). After few minutes of going through it, she took out her magic wand (calculator). Zap! Zap! Zap! She smiled. She comforted. The she spilled the bean.

She: Don’t worry. With our extensive program your skin will be smooth and fair.

Me: But I don’t want to be fair. I like being tan.

She: Oh.. Then don’t worry, we can add this package. it will keep your skin tone.

Me: *Roll eyes* Hmm.. I..

She: Don’t worry. And also this revitalizing lotion is very good. Many of our clients tried before. We are out of stock now, but if you like we can special order for you.

Me: Hmm.. How much it cost?

She: RM180 for 50ml. And that will last you a month!

Me: *It is more expensive that the freaking gym membership I quitted earlier on this year. Talk about saving money this year!* So how much for everything?

She: *Zap! Zap! Zap!* Only RM14630 a year. Don’t worry. It is very reasonable package.

Me: *Reasonable my foot. 14K for a bloody skin treatment! It is like daylight robbing* Hmm.. It is more costly than I expected.

She: Don’t worry. We have 0% installment plan. *Zap! Zap! Zap!* See… only RM1220 monthly.

Me: *Speechless*

I do want a healthier skin (everyone does) but it is ridiculous (or perhaps just out of my means) to invest that amount. Nevertheless I did get a free SPA package, courtesy of Meiji. I was slightly nervous about the experience. The anxious feeling is like the moment just before one loses one’s vriginity. Excited yet frightened. Before: a tense body. After: a relax one. I even had the after-sex glow after the SPA. I do have to admit the pampering treatment is heavenly and wirth every minute of it. But I wasn’t sure I should slap my plastic with a fat one. It is disturbing enough to know how much I already owe the bank. And since I will be heading back to study fulltime, it is really not the right time to spend on credit, escpecially such an enormous amount, considering I won’t have a lucrative expense account anymore after June.

Money. So hard to come by (Just like mu usual rambling on men, sex, love, etc). 33 year-old skin on a 24 year-old… I feel so old suddenly. How to compete lah in the oh-so-perfect market. there goes the rest of hard-to-come-by acccessories. Darn! And all she kept saying was “don’t worry”, like it soothes the soul.

If my brown shoes can do the talking, I trust that the picturesque clips can do theirs. Enjoy the AussieBum.

I’m not even sure whether I am crazy about their products or their models… speechless and priceless!

I shall aptly say that Fling is the new Relationship, since JZ (you should go browse his blog, very quirky writing) and many more blogger has used a similar phrase in a varied context. If I can so nicely put it that relationship is so hard to come by (perhaps it has something to do with good men are hard to come by too). According to Wikipedia, fling can be defined in three manner:

[1] the Struggle Front for the National Independence of Guinea. Nope… not me.

[2] a song by Built to Spill from their 1994 album There’s Nothing Wrong with Love. I will not write another full page on what is wrong with LOVE.

[3] two people or a group of people have intercourse. Ahh.. more like it. =) 

Graphics on the Edge by Vishal.

Crossing the boarder

In a placid motion

The undeniable brown shoes

Clicking on the white polish marble

May the devil be among the saint

Clandestine

Making the sinner’s music

Dragging the burning feet

Tapping with my brown shoes on

I ease my awkward feature through

Hoping the fact that with its presence I would be spare

And thus never in a compromising position

Have the brown in my shoes do the talking

Elementary

Subjectively indispensable

Last night jazz played in my head without actually being played

All I need now is a lil’ bit of what JT called “Summer Love”.

Ignorant, or the tak ape attitude, has reached a climax. Condom does not guarantee a clean slate. More are infected daily. Girls are found pregnant still. The rubber is only a tool. It is the practice that counts. Putting on the wrong side doesn’t help. Putting on after penetrative sex doesn’t help too. It is either incorrect use or too late altogether. Pre-cum or that fluid that releases during foreplay, may also contain sex bugs. On top of all the efforts “raw sex”, “barebacking”, “sticky hump”, “free & easy” is getting  popular. The “touch N go” sex has gotten more attention lately. A friend proudly proclaimed he had bareback with this hot guy before, and as anal as I am, I always probe the less desirable (and perhaps the less expected) question of all, ‘aren’t you afraid of getting infected?’ He simply smiled bigger as if he has the best answer to my question, ‘on the last check I am still clean’. To make things worse he smirked after that. Initially I had my usual speech about the sex bugs prepared, however that day I didn’t share it. I believe I myself have lost hope of thinking that people will more responsible and there might be a possibility of reducing (if not curb) the spread of sex bugs. I even come to a point where I secretly wish that one day the control pills for the sex bugs will cease working, or a bigger sex bug will exist (which is quite possible with in swapping of sex bugs amongst random people who play unsafely). I know it is ill thinking. I also know it can very well be reality in the near future… if we continually to live too freely.

Below are some works done by The One Academy in collaboration with Malaysian AIDS Council to creat an information material on safer sex and injecting. The project has produced interactive games, motion graphics, posters, animations, and illustrative comics. I had the opportunity to work with them on this project which has sustained my passion and hope. It is desirable to see this project able to reach people in a larger scale, in fun info-tainment manner, and only then hopefully we might live to see the slightest change in people’s behavior. You can obtain a copy of the comic in English or Malay version from Malaysian AIDS Council, or if you prefer, you can get it from me (plus I will get a chance to practice my cob-web speech). Wait no more, safer action starts today, and by you.