1. Most basic rule of all, you must own a minimum of 500 records to show that you are really serious about music.
2. You are still single! And you constantly need to watch High Fidelity once every 3 months to comfort yourself that there is someone out there for you and one day, you will be able to find love.
3. You don’t know how to play a single music instrument (it is a known that no music critics know how). Those that do, and usually it’s the guitar, act as if they are so fucking cool with a guitar while girls drool over them but their music knowledge is so fucking shallow. Usually they cite one of the following as their direct or major influences: Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain or Steve Vai. Do they know even heard of Ry Cooder or Taj Mahal? Both are regarded as the finest and most eclectic American guitarists ever to wield a pick.
4. Serious music appreciators do not talk or discuss with just anybody about music, they will find out first if the person is worthy or not. Those people who like to open their mouths and yap away about music once they got the slightest hint that you are into music too, the so called music lovers, acting all proudly about their music insights, fit the term empty vessels perfectly. These are also the same people who probably know how to play the guitar. Worst of all, they don’t realize the elitists are keeping quiet, letting them carry on with the show and smile with their teeth visible is actually an act of mockery.
5. You worked in a record store before and no customers had ever came in that you knew for a fact that had a more superior music knowledge than you, or that was at least what you thought!
6. You own a minimum of 5 from the following footwear:
   1. Boots - Clarks, Dr. Martens or Red Wing
   2. Sandals - Birkenstock or Clarks. No surf or sports brand and Crocs
   3. Sneakers - Converse (All Star), Adidas (preferably Stan Smith, definitely not Superstar), Fred Perry, Lacoste
7. Attire. Very particular about the width of the bottom of your pants or jeans, must never be more than 16 inches. Only wear polo-Ts by Fred Perry and Lacoste and never pull the collar up. Have a Ben Sherman shirt, short or long sleeve. Rock T-shirts are essentials.
8. You once had an email account which was provided by NME.
9. There are some people out there who think they are so much better than most people because they watch foreign films and piss on Hollywood films. It must be duly noted that here, there is a difference between foreign films and art-house films and the elitists only watch art-house productions. To you, foreign films are no different from Hollywood films, except maybe for the dumb blondes with big tits you can always see in the latter.
10. Books. No self-help books, too proud for it. No love stories, no love life to comprehend it to begin with. No suspense, crime, thriller, horror or anything around that line, you are so fucking intelligent that you know who the perpetrator is after the first chapter. Biographies, yes, but only musicians you admire.
11. You like to make mix tapes or CDs to the ones you are interested romantically.
12. You already have a set of questionnaires about music and film prepared to be given out to hopeful prospects of the opposite sex.

More information : Movie Synopsis | Showtimes (Gurney Plaza)

8th European Union Film Festival 2007

I got the album last week at Rock Corner, from my KL-Penang delivery-boy, keyboard junkie. He bought an extra copy for himself as well without knowing what to expect from this compilation album. But he will definitely be pleased when he found out that what he bought for us was a limited edition double CD digipak, first pressing only.

It is a double disc compilation album with previously unreleased studio tracks plus live acoustic version of previously released studio tracks. It made up a total of (5+6) 11 tracks as a companion to Heima DVD (a film by Sigur Rós).

Disc 1 : Hvarf | Heim : Disc 2

Hvarf, these are supposed to be the almost forgotten/lost tracks from various points in the band’s career. It starts out with Salka, which the guitar reminds me of Explosions in the Sky. But when Jónsi’s voice settles in, you can bet for a hell of great musical-lyrical journey ahead. My personal favorite would be Í Gær, which can be heard through out Heima’s trailer. Just can’t get enough/over of the tinkling intro..

Heim, these are tracks recorded during the band’s summer 2006 and early spring 2007 tour in Iceland. And as a person that prefers live recordings compare to studios, I have to say Heim overshadowed Hvarf. The stripped down tracks are simply amazing and are as good as the non-acoustic/electrical versions. To my pleasant surprise, powerful tracks like Starálfur, Vaka (Untitled #1) and Ágætis Byrjun were not much off from their original electrical versions, I wonder how they do it. Overall the vocals are much crystallized, in a way much warmer. Even the sad sounding piano riff doesn’t sound sad at all

There are good-bad reviews over the Internet, but personally I think Sigur Rós stole it.

Some can’t get into the band at all, no matter how hard they try. But I was born to take craps like this (its a compliment). Got to catch them perform live before I die.

Date : 17th November, Saturday (of course)
Venue : New World Park, Jalan Burmah, Penang
Time : 1pm to 11pm
Genre : Rock, Hip Hop, Alternative, Dance, Unplugged, Pop, Jazz, DJ, Canto, Malay, English, etc!

*More than 30 local artists, 9 hours non stop music showcase, FREE to public!
**Besides, there will be Flea market, New World Park food court, cafe, restaurant etc!

More information on Happy Saturday

It is every music elitist’s dream to be able to customize the woman he wants for a partner like making a mix tape for his car stereo down to the very detail of which band to like and dislike. It is because he wouldn’t want his girl to embarrass him in front of his friends by saying she likes Smashing Pumpkins when his friends know for a fact that he despise the most overrated American band from the alternative era to the bone. This will cause a stand off that makes the long going Israel-Palestine butchering of each other looks dandy and flowery. There is nothing worse in this universe and I repeat nothing worse, than to challenge an elitist’s knowledge by liking the bands that he hates because in his ears a piece of music is either good or not good, there is no such thing as preference. Preference is for weak indecisive people who take more than a second to decide whether to have milk in their tea every morning!

Before I continue, it must be noted that we can never find a woman, no matter how much she says she loves music, whose goal to have a pair of shoe for every piece of her wardrobe rates lower than the humanitarian work that have been putting in to try to wipe out poverty in this world. We have our Jimmy Page, they simply must have their Jimmy Choo!

From my past failed experiences, I have learned that there is no point pushing or educating your significant other to appreciate the significance of The Kinks‘ guitar riff on “You Really Got Me“, Joe Meek‘s maverick style of recording, The Velvet Underground‘s soundscape in “Sister Ray” and what’s not. In the end it is going to drive her away because she will feel like a failure for being unable to comprehend you and your music. How many years did you take to reach the status of being a snobbish elitist and you think you can cramp in all that in just a mere 3 years with her? Just like success, there is no shortcut in being a professional music appreciator. And if she is doing it because she loves you and not music, she already had her feet wrong in the first place. After all being said and done, it just goes to strengthen the idiom that “you don’t choose the music, the music chooses you”. You can force her to love your family but not rock ‘n’ roll, the devil’s music is divine and sacred!

I understand that every time we meet someone we are just like in a crossroad, to compromise on our stand or just out rightly discard her away because she went berserk when the DJ in the club was playing Bon Jovi‘s “It’s My Life“. From a man’s point of view I would advise you to make her drunk that night, take her home, pin her down on the floor and take her like a slut! But as your fellow music appreciator comrade my advice is, since your big head get to absorb all the intellectuals from Salman Rushdie, Stanley Kubrick and Devendra Banhart, I think you should do your smaller head a little bit more justice and fuck something more intelligent! A female Border Collie perhaps? It is still a bitch though. I am just kidding. Anyway, my take whenever I was in this crossroad was to ask myself if she is worth the compromise I was about to sacrifice and most importantly, don’t think of this question after 5 pints of Guinness or whatever your alcohol tolerance may be, your smaller head will be doing all the thinking that time.

A few years ago I would had said no woman is worth to drown your beliefs for. But as age is catching up which might had caused me to mellow down, I only have this to say… “FOOK LOVE! WITH 500 RECORDS NOW, I HAVE TO BE SERIOUS ABOUT MUSIC! I GOT NO FRIGGIN’ TIME FOR NO FRIGGIN’ WOMAN! YEAH! FOOK LOVE AGAIN! ROCK ‘N’ ROLL RULES!”

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As mentioned in previous post, a Malaysian filmmaker Liew Seng Tat has proven his talent and abilities in the Korean 12th Pusan International Film Festival (PITT). The debut feature film that granted him fame and glory, Flower in the Pocket, won the New Currents Award and the KNN Audience Award in Pusan Int Film Festival.

Flower in the Pocket

They just want to love and to be loved

The good news is the film will be release in Golden Screen Cinemas Gurney Plaza Penang on 20th December 2007. For more information on the film, movie posters and director please visit Da Huang Pictures.

And now comes the 1st Korean Film Festival 2007

1st Korean Film Festival 2007

It is the 1st Korean Film Festival to be held in Malaysia and are proudly brought to us by Golden Screen Cinemas. For Penangites, the screenings are from 1st – 5th November 2007, in Golden Screen Cinemas Gurney Plaza Penang.

Tickets for the film festival, at RM5, can be purchased from the cinema’s box office or online. Click here for the showtimes and other information.

Its gonna be lovely!

1) 1:30pm – 2:10pm “Alice Lives Here” oleh Reel Powers
2) 2:10pm – 2:40pm “Paradise Bus” oleh Chi Too
3) 2:40pm – 3:10pm “Twelve 11″ oleh Loh Yin San, Ong Ju Lin & Claudia Theophilus
4) 3:10pm – 3:40pm “The Tapper and the Law” oleh Rajan Paramesran
5) 3:40pm – 4:10pm “The Invisible Children” oleh Hariati Azizan
6) 4:10pm – 4:40pm “Sustainable Penang” oleh Cahayasuria Communication Centre

For more information, visit Pesta Rakyat Merdeka.

7th French Film Festival 2007

I always have the hots for French films and have been watching them all for the past few years. Even bought the DVDs to watch it again, and to keep as collections. Not this year though, I missed them all.

I have no other choice but to blame workload and additional responsibilities that I recently took up. Its a good thing to get more work load and responsibilities, because you get to learn more things by doing so. But to the extend of taking up your own personal time, its bad. Come to think of it, I should blame myself and my time management *smirk* .

Well what can I do, except to wait for the upcoming 8th French Film Festival next year. Promise myself will see it all no matter what. May be even take a couple of days off just for it, just like a friend of mine working in CPI

A friend I met there told me the ayam goreng (fried chicken) is good. But previously I have heard from others that the daging (beef) is marvelous. Yet the owner claimed to have the biggest succulent sotong (squid) in town. They were all right in their own rightful ways, and it was at an affordable price too

The owner is pretty friendly and a very chatty guy too. Unfortunately we only chatted a few lines, didn’t really get a chance to ask for his name. Alright! I was too busy stuffing myself with the others at that time. How could I not when I have sotong, daging, telur bawang (fried omelets with slice onions) and telur rebus (hard-boiled egg) sitting on my plate staring at me??

MisterOwner and Sweejin

Nowadays, I seldom visit the capati-list mamak chain for an ordinary plate of decent nasi kandar. Why not? That’s because they no longer cook good food (mass production with no quality control). I go indie, I go to ‘balai eh koay piak‘.

You should go too.