Mubarak: 'Are we seeing but not looking?'

Quote:

During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam as well as refraining from lying, stealing, anger, envy, greed, lust, sarcastic retorts, backbiting, and gossip.
- wikipedia.

I'm certainly sure that Ramadan is a month not only to fast on food, but also to do more good-doings in our lives, 'behave' ourselves from our almost daily routine, including not to 'poke' any parts of our body (if you know what I mean) and not to curse. As for me, it's definitely a challenge especially when it comes to driving on the road. I can be a humble, patient driver but once a slow-ass driver tried to irritate me, then I would have a little 'concern'. Well, I actually do get used to it now and then, especially when I listen to Astrud Gilberto or Erykah Badu while driving. But despite all that, commuting from my place to my work in Cyberjaya definitely drained me out, seriously. I felt bad for not be able to have energy like I used to do back in the days, where I go for tarawih (muslim prayers each nite for Ramadan) and have more time then ever. I guess it may be the process of age or my digestion disorder syndrome that I'm still having. Maybe someway it had effected my health condition.


My current Facebook room. Send some items to my room. My new facebook friends also includes Hillman Curtis, Niko Stumpo, Andi Rianto (Indonesian talented producer, Jeff Ooi and much more. Come join us!

Well, normally after my iftar (and supper), I will be online checking my emails and my recent addiction to Facebook (FB) due to it's amazing architecture information (a.i) and it's usability. I do watch TV (National Geographic, Animal Planet) or chat with my sister or my parents. I can't sleep, especially if I had meal, at least not in 1 hour.

Work Updates

Creative Commons Malaysia

I had recently been active (online) in two groups for Creative Commons Malaysia. One is the flickr MyCC group and CCM on Facebook (FB). By the way, I heard Microsoft is trying to buy the famous social networking, Facebook.I hope FB won't be having so many restrictions, bugs and so many patches updates later if Microsoft to buy facebook. I remember, when Hotmail was bought by Microsoft, I receive more spams.

Back to CC, I'm planning to have a Creative Commons Day in November, since too much things to prepare. The merchandising might took a while, while I have to carefully select good people to join my talk / workshop. I will soon give a talk and demonstrate on how to get creative with Creative Commons. Info will be posted in this blog soon.

As a (young) photographer.

I've been exposed to photography over 3 years but this year is in fact the most serious time I got involved. I believe photography is another great escapism and challenge. I work with great people for the industry and they had taught me a lot. I remember working with few professional photographers like Jeffrey Tan, Ted Adnan and other photographer from advertising agency for some shots in their works and others. In the past few months, I have the opportunity to attend some workshop and talks that was given by Zainal Halim (Reuters) and manage to watch together with my friends from the Flickr Malaysia group of an amazing documentary of James Nachtwey, War Photographer.


Another paid talent work after experimental shot for Landrover Malaysia, this is my third work as a talent. To those who told how ugly I was back in my college years, this is the ugly boy you see in some products and ads.

Last two weeks, we (me, Salmi & Abby) had a slumber party at our place (despite me being the only guy, doesn't make me an alien), besides having late night snacks on our iftar, I took the opportunity to explore lights with my photography (knowledge). I'm pretty excited to get myself serious in this. Edri had also offer me to sell some of her lens and hopefully to get 3 hot items by this year.


This is my sister Abby, yesterday was her 25th birthday (25th Sept) and I'm celebrating her birthday together with our friends at Atilia's gig in (Raja) Chulan square, this Saturday. Feel free to join or drop by Abby's blog. Happy birthday girl! I hope in this year had taught you the meaning of life and career survival. Keep up the good work and always trust your talent and gift that you have.

L.A.M.U, Let Arts Move You

I believe this time it would be official that I will be joining the LAMU project with KTM Malaysia where me, Shieko and the rest of the artist will have the opportunity to showcase our artworks in KTM Commuter trains and even the KL Sentral KTM Commuter stations. I believe this is a great opportunity for me to get back and connect with my art skills, which I had abandon since Merdeka this year.

Feel free to visit LAMU @ DMP here.

Life Updates: If I hold a hand again, it will not be me, it will be free.

I am not invisible, because others let me see what’s in their heart,
I am not fragile, because I can be strong to stand on my feet,
I am not evil, because I help people in anyway I can so I learn my mistakes,
I am not humble, because some times I need to brag to build my confidence,
I am not a saint, but a sinner to my unperfected existence,
I am not a free, but I let others free by doing the right thing,
I am not safe, because my life will be in the hands of the Al-Mighty,
I am not solitude, because I have people who love me.

Getting myself back stabbed has been a natural story, but not to the recent 3-4 months ago. Adding to that, even 'another person' have dark deadly revenge on me and try to find a way to threaten my friends and family, there are also few individuals (hint: ex-employer) who's bound to take me down due to his impulsive decision. If he was kind, respectful and humble, he would have been a good friend, and a lot of great opportunity would roll in his way. Out of all people, they are people who I had been close to, and they are the people that I had help to build their motivation and support their career or company. It’s the time I’ve been pushed away and they thought I was weak. The case I’m in now is very clear and I will know one thing I am certainly sure of what to do and what solution I can think off. I will rise from my fall, I will stand up and work even harder and make new friends who see my potential and support my battle for survival. I will keep moving on and I will never look back.

To the recent art scene ‘fanatics’ who had been questioning my seldom appearance in exhibitions and events, I’m not dead. I’ve been in full creative practice to ensure I will go further, upgrading my skill sets to keep up with others, and the trends. Like everyone else, I have a lot of commitment and I choose to concentrate on most priority in my career and family.


Notification: You got a friend! One (1) Unread Message


Photos by the talented Eka.


From left (counter-clockwise): Muid, Johan, Edri, Ena, Mizie, JingYing, Victor, Wira, Grom Airess, Magnus (Azami), Prakash, Abby & Eka.

This is not the kind of buddies that you like to meet once in blue moon that says hello and bye-bye. I had made a very strong relationship with a bunch of low-profile, humble and friendly people from Flickr group, they kept me warm and let me be myself, without putting a barrier or walls between them. They are my new family and they had help push my small limit and talent in photographer one step further. I thank to all my KL Flickr members for accepting me, rather than pushing me away. I love you guys very much and thanks for accepting me.

Catching with old friends


My new 'family'.

Last weekend on the 27th September, I managed to take my friend out for a hang out in Bangkok Jazz; Nadiah Aziz in conjunction of Abby's belated birthday in Atilia's show. It was awesome! Anyway, Nadiah has been my best friend way back when I studied in UiTM. It was the era of knowing Modestos (no pun intend), working on art projects at late nights while listening to Beatsie Boys & Prodigy, and what not. Nadiah was the only friend I am close to talk about anything. It's like whatever I had in my closet, she knows ;). We plan on meeting regularly soon.





About three days ago, I also received a message from my dear friend Noni from Penang about our upcoming reunion this December. I’m pretty excited about this because I like to meet my old friends and have a good time together. However, there are some friends from our past who always refuse to join. He likes to put a great barrier in any relationship or friendship, and that is Zamri Azizan. He questions why we need to have reunion each year. It’s not right at all. There’s no such rule on when a reunion should be made. From my observation on last year’s reunion, I’m so happy to see all of us stay together, chit-chatting, wrapping up gifts, preparing dinner and sit down together to have a nice barbecue. I guess some people don’t want to keep friendship and mutual relationship. And it’s pathetic to live alone full of negative surroundings and without people who really care and loves you.

Outro:

Last but not lease, my deepest condolence and prayer goes out to our beloved Nurin, who had been brutally abused and murdered. Visit the late Nurin's Uncle's blog here. Visit Screenshot and let's us all pray that kids can still go out at the playground.

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Have a great fasting month, and great week guys!

Transformers Mania

My dream came true (yeah baby!).Though Michael Bay didn’t bring the best of transformers for their die-hard-fan (macam saya), but it’s worth watching. I mean, come on, can’t expect every freakin’ transformers to be in the movie right? But I bet there’s Transformers 2, and hopefully ada Omega Supreme or Fortress Maximus atau Metroplex. Cool eh? Although the game for PSP was f****ng boring, I still watch it few times in the cinema. (Hopefully to be on IMAX). I’m sure by now, all transformers collectors are increasing their current collector price to $$$$ (4 digits) Ringgit Malaysia.

Here’s my recent transformers collection




Yang Baik (Autobots), mostly Takara version.


Yang Jahat (Decepticons). R.I.P. to my Insecticons, Starscream G1 & Demolisher. Sedey.. Ni semua gara orang gaji yg tak tahu menahu pasal kepentingan toys aku. Boleh tak dia buang time kitaorang pindah from Kem Sg. Besi to Selayang. Aku redha...

To calculate the total of my transformers collection, I spend more than RM4,971 since 2002 excluding DVD collection and other merchandise. Gosh, I can get a new MacBook with that figure. Tapi sayang pulak nak jual all my stuff kat eBay. Let me keep this as my only permanent hobby. (Tapi tak leh lawan my boss, giler satu rumah penuh koleksi from A-Z). Kalah Afdlin Shauki). More of my Transformers Collection @ My Flickr. Talk about hobby, my new hobby is playing PSP! yeay! (Gosh, macam budak2... umur dah nak dekat masuk 30 tahun).

TF Wishlist (jer!, bukan confirm beli):

1. Optimus Prime Electronic Mask (Macam not necessary)
   
2. Bumblebee (TF Movie version)
3. Optimus Prime (TF Movie version)
4. Ultra Magnus Masterpiece
5. Starscream Energon
   

And I know all of these stuff I can get at only oooonne (1) place, that closes at 3 o’clock in the morning, right here in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. But having said that, I will be spending my money buying a very freaking cool WACOM tablet for improving and increasing my illustration skills using Photoshop CS. Better right?


_Work Updates:

Illustrations:



And my sketch of a robot tengah membaca. Very cute one.





I have to do it since everyone in the office starts to illustrate their own version of transformers including Junning, Iman & Eisu.. Duh!


'Dambaan Jiwaku', My first LP CD, Edited by Kromosom / Keribang

Talk: ‘Generating Creativity Through Interactivity’
I will be flying to Johor Bahru to give a talk on ‘Generating Creativity Through Interactivity’ together with my big man, ‘Kanye West’ & Ke’Kamal’lan under MSC Malaysia Creative Multimedia Content Initiative (CMCI) program on the 24-25th of July.

2nd’Exhibition: 7 July 2007 (7/7/7)
Digital Malaya will be showcasing it’s demoreel and my second public art performance at Central Market for the grand opening of 7/7 Malaysia First Digital Art Gallery. I will be rework on ‘Body Movement’ performance with a wyyeeeetle bit of contemporary dance for the gimmick launch. Nak tengok muid buat aksi lipat roti canai dan teknik sakit urat badan, teknik tangkap biawak, mari sama-sama ke Central Market Art Zone this 7th of July, 7pm!



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I still miss my Perodua Kancil. I will never forget you!

First in 2007: Creative Exposure

Giving a talk each year has been a must for me. But this year, it started slowly. Due to heavy commitment of work, I make more time to increase my understanding and observation towards what we call the Creative Multimedia Industry, by coordinating and supporting a lot of launches and events throughout the year.

This year, I admit, I put my pencil down and do more typing. There wouldn’t be more of those 170 layers of Adobe Photoshop that I normally do over weekly basis. But recently, it’s about time. I don’t want to waste half of the year not doing anything in the digital art scene.



British Council invited me to present our group, Digital Malaya Project (DMP) collective for the Love & Money Design Dayz event, called 'Pecha Kucha Night'. The whole session from 8.30 pm - 10 pm was a blast aligned with great speakers from Juan, Chun Woei, even Sharon Chin, Jerome, Michael (Gilamon), Morag Myerscough, Matt Armitage, Aiko (FuriFuri) and others.



The rest of the pictures can be found in my flickr page.

For the first time this year, Abby, my sister had showcased her photography works together with Riz Ainuddin, and the key people of DMP, Perez & Shieko that night. It was a good crowd. I'm also glad to meet my friends from Bigbrosworkshop (Juan), Chun (UrbanCr3atures), Jay Lim & Vivian Toh, Simon (VectorBross), Tintoy, Gilamon (Lefty, Michael), Radio & Driva, Weng Keong (Arachnid), Salmi & her friends, Shafina and her cousin and the rest. Everyone had been very supportive and looking at them, they do care about education and creative awareness.

For more info about Design Dayz: Pecha Kucha, click here.

I have two upcoming art exhibition, and one upcoming talk in Johor Bahru called 'Menjana Kreatifiti Melalui Interaktif: Proses Animasi' will be held next month. I will keep you posted.
Web Design by Content that features my work are now available at Amazon.com


I had a good hangout session with DMP Collective (Abby, Shieko & Perez), Elyna Shukri, along with Ibah, Eka, Tini, Zatyl and 84Cube (Najib, Acit, and that guy) at Pelita, near KLCC.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank British Council Malaysia, especially to Patriana & Sunita for having us on the show, and thanks to all of my friends who came to the event yesterday to support our group. It was pleasure to see all of you guys. We have a lot of fun!

Like Paul Arden said; “Accentuate The Positive, Eliminate the negative.”


New Work: 'Cacausia'

New artwork that I created last three days back in the office.



We can't own them, but treasure them for the beauty of God's creation. Inspired by Cockatoo, our local call 'em Kakak Tua, I present to you my latest artwork, ‘Cacausia’ . This is a part of the continuous series from 'Obourius', in conjunction of ‘Extinction of the Wild Life’ series.

Facts:
'Caca' taken from the word 'Cacatuidae'. Cockatoo belongs to 21 bird species in the family Cacatuidae. 'Usia', means Age in Malay language. In Malay language, we called Parrot, ‘Kakak Tua’, meaning ‘Old Sister’ (or whichever you prefer :P).

Colors:
I would like to bring the warm colours to make it more emerging. Previously, my artwork ‘Obourius’ had been very ‘de-saturated’ where I set the color palette slightly pale. With ‘Cacausia’, this version will create more vitality and oriental.


Sony PSP Fever
This is not an ordinary gadget. I was way behind getting myself updated with handy tools lately (orang kata ketinggalan zaman) after givin' away my iPAQ to Abby for her birthday. I remember when I was somewhere in The Curve a couple of months ago, I saw few kids playing PSP. I thought it was cool for such a small age to have such privilege to own a PSP. I said to myself, once in awhile, I do need these kind of escapism, after all, you need to focus on some other things, before you turn old.

Last two weeks, I was thinking of buying iPod video but it turns out PSP was the right and perfect choice. For RM690 (Basic kit) + 4GB of Memory Stick Pro - RM170, (together cost RM860). Adding a UMD game, 'Open Season' - RM140. Now, TOTAL cost = RM1000, this amazing gadget gives you 5 power function;

i) Playing amazing 3D games (UMD), Well, original UMD games costs RM80-170.
ii) Downloading and viewing photos, (good for portfolio review for interviews & clients)
iii) Videos (Elyana told me most of the directors uses PSP to showcase their film on PSP)
iv) Music playback and download (depends on your card. In my case, i have 2 GB of MP3s!, 1GB of videos)
v) Internet (Yes, check email here, Adobe Flash enabled, Portable TV, RSS, wi-fi surfing baby!)



Now, my iPod Nano merajuk. I think I lost it somewhere in my room, or in the office, or forever gone! Anyway, with PSP, I have saved a lot of money comparing to iPod Video. You get five (5) major function (giving you the resolution of 480x272) of PSP for RM1,000 while for iPod Video, they offer few functions and small resolution (320x280), without cool games and Internet surfing for RM1,099! The price different is RM99, but think of the big features that PSP offers. Plus, with MemoryStick, you can even store your documents and files (like a thumbdrive) whenever you are connected to your USB cable and a computer / laptop. Of course PSP doesn't offer playlist for MP3 playback and bigger size compared to iPod, but they also have art album cover and great quality of sound. The battery last longer than iPod, plus I don't need to find weird USB cable to connect to my psp, as I can borrow anyone's USB cable (camera, external hardrive, etc).

I also purchase Tekken Dark Resurrection (probably the best!) and the worst game ever, which is the new Transformers: The Game. Oke la, maybe the game trailer looks fantastic, but the game NOT! Well, since I'm a big fan of Transformers (Collector of G1, Masterforce and Cybertron), I would say it's a good collectible items, but not meant to be played. The game sucks! Not worth any of my penny.

To add more suprise, in my office, there are 7 people who owned PSP including two of my great bosses! Hasnul helped me to get the best deal of PSP in Gamers Hideout, Cineleisure, Damansara. Although they have limited PSP games on their rack, but their customer service support was good. At first, I bought UMD game called 'WTF' (Work Time Fun, yeah right!). I played this game (WTF) for one day and later I was not even satisfied (for RM80, giler rugi oke). I trade it with 'Open Season' UMD a week later at Games Hideout. Those guys are great!

With this PSP, I get to spend more time especially Ramadan is coming soon. I have my al-Quran PSP installed in my memory stick, thanks to Ikhwan Nazri from Flavert and his friends for developing a holy application for this. Good job!

Next year, there's iPhone arriving in Malaysia right? Let's just see.

Btw, Angel, a visitor from my blog informed me that she got to know my blog from a local TV station. Thanks for informing me. Now, I have to find out how my blog got on the show :) If you guys have any news about it, do let me know.

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