Chronicles of The Juggler

2008-04-21T14:33:00.002+08:00

Here I am. After a VERY, VERY, VERY long time. Blogging. It ain't easy. When you are OUT there. Doing it. In the action itself. That after you're done, you're just too damn tired, although you have the thoughts, the words, the feelings. Yes, it's the bad habit again.

Anyway, below is a post I just added on the Three blog. Though I'd put it up here too...

Ok. Back to life...

THE END OF THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Hey all. It's the funny Monday. The one after a long run, and a long process, of creation, with a group of people. People whom, whether you like it or not, have somehow, become a part of your life. You had the love, the hate, the annoyance, the laughter, the tears... and whatever other emotions you could think of, that it's like family. Yup Nick, corny, and emo. But that IS the deal.

This is the Monday after.

It was a great party. You fellas who left early, ah, sit and wonder la what you all missed :P

I am just sitting here, in the office. Coping. I have been at this point so many times, having done so many shows. And it never has become easier.

You know it's the end. But at the same time, it's only the end if you allow it to be. Keeping the friends you found. That is the challenge. A hard one.

So. This is it.

Life finds a way. To weave the ones that matter (you guys know who you are, right?), into your own life. Of course, You yourself can help it, but there is also a higher being, an unseen force, at work, to help you weave them in.

Ok la enough. I think I have gone on too much. Just my random thoughts for today, the first day of the end.

Habis.

Biatch!

2007-03-14T13:54:00.000+08:00

THE ENSEMBLE THEATRE of KUALA LUMPUR
Presents

8 Short Plays by SAMUEL BECKETT
In

“A Bucketful of Beckett: 8 Shots”

Directed by CHRISTOPHER JACOBS

Watch your subconscious take centre stage.
Forget about looking at life from your daily eyes.
But catch a glimpse from that corner of your mind.
That nook where your thoughts take shape,
however perverse or popular they may be.
Where your dreams live, be they funny or frightening.
Where your secrets, dark or delightful, seek refuge.

Fresh from raising the curtain with “The Stronger” (written by August Strindberg, featuring Nicole-Ann Thomas & Kay Chin, directed by Christopher Jacobs) for Masakini’s “In The Name of Love” (written by Ramli Ibrahim, starring Sabera Shaik, directed by Christopher Jacobs) in April, the KL Ensemble continues to fulfill its calendar of events with A BUCKETFUL OF BECKETT: 8 SHOTS. Call it a Beckett marathon, if you like. The first of its kind in the local theatre scene, this production in May marks KL Ensemble’s maiden effort since its official inception in 2006.

From the same company who performed in Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus and Moliere’s Tartuffe, A BUCKETFUL OF BECKETT will feature a collection of eight short plays by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, better known for his well crafted yet ambiguous qualities of writing for theatre, television and even radio. A Nobel Prize winner, his works are often likened to an orchestral score, without the orchestra.

This anthology will feature some of his most challenging works for every human facet. Expect a night of visually arresting images and thought provoking dialogue, from a mouth on stage to humans in urns.

Come surrender yourself to an “out-of-the-ordinary” theatrical experience, Beckett style, this May!

o May 2 – 6, 2007
o Stor Theatre DBP, Bangunan Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, KL
o Wed – Sat: 8.30pm / Sat & Sun: 3pm
o RM25 (adults) & RM15 (students and disabled)
o Enquiries: 019-266 1257 or 012-976 3012
o For more information, visit: www.klensemble.com

2007-03-14T13:47:00.000+08:00

MASAKINI THEATRE COMPANY
presents

The Ensemble Theatre of Kuala Lumpur
in

August Strindberg’s
THE STRONGER

Directed by CHRISTOPHER JACOBS
Featuring NICOLE-ANN THOMAS & KAY CHIN
Sponsored by HSBC

“You can never keep a man’s love with your tulips and your passions …. but I can keep it.”

Two women meet each other in a café on Christmas Eve. At face value, they are friends who go back a long way, having started out as peers in the theatre industry. With nothing more than a single conversation between them, this supposedly simple scene explores the brutal power struggle between two different characters who are as different as they are similar.

As they string each other along on an emotional roller-coaster ride, the audience is soon drawn into a psychological tug-of-war, where the lines between victim and predator are distorted. A short play that is rich in allegory and steeped in its many layers of interpretation, “The Stronger” gets the audience up close and personal with the politics of the heart.

o Pentas 2, KLPac, Sentul Park, Jln Strachan, Off Jln Ipoh, KL
o Apr 26 – 29 (8.30pm nightly, except for Sunday at 3pm)
o RM35 (adults) & RM20 (students & the disabled)
o Box Office KLPac: 03- 4047 9000 / The Actors Studio Bangsar: 03- 2094 0400/1400
o Website: www.klensemble.com
o Enquiries: 012-976 3012 / 019-266 1257

2007-01-18T11:43:00.000+08:00

Yup, back.

So, December was of course hectic, as usual. And this time, I did not have any one to help me with the company annual lunch. Except for Mala, and Sam, to help me in the occasional desperate situation to complete the task for the day. 2006's annual lunch was, for one, a lunch, we usually have dinner. And secondly, it was kept simple and fuss free, without a Lucky Draw, but instead a wish list for the staff, where everyone gets what they wished for. The have to tell me and I shall try to be Santarina. Of couse, with a budget tagged to it la. I got my long awaited digital camera, finally! A Kodak. Hope it proves its worth.

Then there was the pleasant surprise of a last minute drop out situation, where Llew needed singers for his place, The Attic. Janet, Vivian and I performed there, with another guy called Ben Chew, on Dec 17th. It was part of the Open Mic Series Llew has on certain Wednesday nights at Attic. It was my first pure solo showcase la, with me singing songs THAT I WANTED TO SING, not what other people thought I should, or wanted me to, sing. Sang Summertime, Big Spender, Santa Baby (to keep up with the season; LOVE this song!) and You Learn (Alanis). All in all, I think it was not thaaat bad la. I hope I did not screw up the classics so much. I was just myself. And people responded, positively, so good. Recorded the show on my digital camera... hehehe... and also on my new MP3 player (my attempt at moving up in the techno department). Janet and Vivian did well too. Janet had the balls to go on first, Vivian was 3rd after Ben, and I had the balls to go on last. So I guess we both have balls la Janet. Go read

her blog

on the concert. We rounded up the night with Viv and me doing Bugle Boy with Llew standing in as the third 'Sister Andrew' on piano and harmonies. It was a fun and refreshing change from our acappella version.

Then of course, in all the flurry, Fancy Poultry were in the midst of rehearsals for our Christmas eve show at Bangkok Jazz. Yes. We did 2 45 minute sets. The crowd got boisterous as the night wore on, and by the time we had to count Christmas down, we were battling between the crowd shouting, Vivian shouting, the band playing, the stupid party blowers they were blowing, and that gadget that makes a cricket-like sound when you turn it round. And B'kok Jazz is a small place. So... it was a challenge, but they listened to us, and responded, positively too. Especially after Vivian did her "Who can shout louder? Me or you?" contest between herself and the audience... I think we managed good banter between them and us. I reminded all to try and keep it as informal as possible. No need to be so rigid and kayu. Be relaxed so that people will relax with us, and enjoy. Of course at the same time mantain focus la. So I think it worked, my little 'talk' before we went on.

The show was a good learning experience, for some more than others. The band, Gruvavenue, consisting of Jason on piano, Vincent on bass and Martin on drums, was good. Thank God. So we had good support. We sang mostly Christmas songs, like It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Little Drummer Boy (our beatbox acappella version), Frosty The Snowman with a 'minor' twist, among others, with some Fancy Poultry standards like our Bugle Boy and Chattanooga Choo Choo. Only four of us did this show. James (his comeback gig), Wei Na, Viv and me. Sun Sun, the one who got us the gig, gave us all a gift after. Maybe she will collaborate with us again in the future... just maybe. Now if only I can get some feedback from her... Will post up pics and maybe a recording of the show on the

Fancy Poultry blog

soon. Ya I know, already January ya ya...

Only then could I begin to relax... a little. The rest of December was me rescuing cats and dogs, and fostering two of them. Simone the little kitty is still with me. Then there is Crusty. Will update on

The Animal Ark

on this one.

Now it's back to concentrating on Ensemble, Ensemble and more Ensemble. Throwing ourselves into it with all our energy. In the midst of sourcing and discussing the plan for the year, what productions, plays to choose, etc. So have to do a lot of reading. A LOT. Watch our space at

www.klensemble.com

for our programmes for the year. Also, we will be opening up our Saturday Theatrical Biomechanics sessions to the public. Theatre practitioners, students, or anyone interested in challenging your body, mind, focus, and pushing your boundaries of awareness, can come and pay for a drop-in class. The class lasts 4 hours, 2pm to 6pm every Saturday. Tomorrow, our Commedia Dell Arte workshop begins. 3 days of training by this guy Marco Luly from Luigi Dell Arte in Italy, one of the few specialists around. We are lucky to have him drop by KL to conduct this workshop. This kind of theatre is closely related to what we train in terms of physical theatre, mime, usage of masks and so on. Details on the website too. Now to do more reading...

Later now.

2006-11-29T15:32:00.000+08:00

Amnesty International's 16 days of activism for violence against women

Go to this page to find out more about the real and ugly truth, and browse the many ways you can help, whether you are a woman, or a man who opposes acts of violence and discrimination against the women around you.

Also, watch videos and advertisements that will make you tick. There is even an interactive game you can play to show your support!

It began on Nov 25th which is International Day Against Violence Against Women and will end on Dec 10th, which is Human Rights Day.

2006-11-28T15:28:00.000+08:00

GET OFF my back!!

You see, in life you are stuck with the high possibility of having three kinds of people around you, the ones who GET it, the ones who JUST DON"T GET it, and the ones who COULDN'T CARE LESS.

Now between these three, ALL of them can prove to be toxic to your well being and survival as a sane human being.

The ones who GET it can annoy the hell out of you by being IN your face TELLING you time and again that they GET it, although they have told you that a freakin thousand times before. Just go gargle or something. PLEASE!

The ones who DON"T GET it can annoy the hell out of you by asking the same damn questions again and again as to why they ARE NOT GETTING it. Instead of moving on and asking questions on why they SHOULD have GOTTEN it by now. They should also ask the morons who GOT it (the get-its) so that they can go bother these idiots (the don't-get-its) instead of sticking their halitosis ridden symptoms in my face.

And the ones who couldn't give a freakin rat's ass (lucky rat though) just annoy the hell out of you by simply existing, and living and breathing the same air you do, when in actual fact they should be just buried alive, or better still, burnt alive... oh, but that would contribute to global warming, so no... buried alive better... and make way for more deserving creatures to inherit the earth. Maybe a tree might even grow from the spot they were buried at... until of course it's cut down, to make way for the next mall. Or the flyover to GET to the next mall.

Me? I'm just GETTING it all, which is too much of everything, that really amounts up to nothing in the end.

2006-11-19T02:18:00.000+08:00

This published on http://www.fancypoultry.blogspot.com just now... thought I'll paste it here too...

-Beginning-
The Thriving A Cappella Scene, and then some.

It's nice to see other a cappella groups grow and evolve. Especially when they are all your friends which you have sung with at some point, thanks to being a member of The Phil all these years.

Just got back from The Wicked Pitches' Mostly We Moon concert at KLPac. Am proud of them, they did a tremendous job, lots of hard work was prevalent in all areas, and they pulled it off well. Thanks also to Michael Voon, another dear friend, choreographer/staging director extraodinaire and fellow theatre practitioner, they had their moves and grooves polished just right, of course, after taking into account the few who do have rhythm problems. And as a friend, I will not try to be all forgiving and just say nice things for the sake of it. Rather I would like to tell them to their faces, what did work and what did not (which I already did btw), be objective about it and allow them to grow even more and learn from the whole experience- if they actually think I am talking sense lah. Take the negative and make it positive the next time round...

A healthy and thriving scene, be it in theatre, musical theatre, a cappella or dance, should be strived at all times. Unfortunately this is easier said than done. Of course when I say healthy, I mean, maintaining good competition, keeping the environment an educational one, where all parties aim to better each other because they know they want to, because they love what they do, because the only way is up. NOT because they want to be better than that group, or because they THINK they deserve better than the others. There is no room for sour grapes if you want to move forward and cultivate positively. At least, that's what I have learnt.

Will look forward to seeing familiar faces at our Christmas eve gig at Bangkok Jazz. In the meantime, it's rehearsals and more rehearsals.

The funky chicken head
-End-

Well... basically, with all the stuff going on in the performing arts scene, I am sure we all want to be as good as we can be, and get better as we do it. I just wished all of us would take our strengths more seriously and grow together. After all, there is no right or wrong, only good or bad theatre.

It's when you do not think you need to still learn, or do not respect your fellow actor's/singer's/dancer's background in theatre training or the like, is when silly thoughts are conjured up, or unnecessary conclusions are drawn. And we all subconciously stop ourselves from moving forward.

Theatre is a living organism. It needs healthy algae, not old energy sucking moss.

Sleepy Biatch

2006-11-10T02:09:00.000+08:00

No use for lengthy explanations

It's just unfortunate. I can't post from the office because of some stupid firewall. I don't spend enough time at home long enough to be able to blog. I am either too tired when I do reach home, or I have other things to see to within the tiredness. And it's usually 12am by the time I do get home after completing an ordinary day.

So that's why this page, and my other page, has been dormant for these few months.

I had like about four or five topics to blog about, made mental notes, even knew what I was going to type... but all that has dissipated to mere fragments of jumbled up thoughts. I don't even remember where the hell to start. Or what those subjects were in the first place.

I guess I'll make this post about quick updates then, since, God knows when I will be actually posting again [*recites mantra* "Have to make it a point to blog, have to make it a point to blog"].

The KL Ensemble space had its first rental job about two weeks ago, and now it has its second one. The Ryzers, thanks to BB have booked our space for their dance lessons for all Tuesdays in November. Some minor income will be generated from that.

Yes we are still training three times a week. I must say the variations in training on all three days are tough, but exciting at the same time, mentally and physically. No productions lined up yet, only towards the first quater to the first half of next year probably.

Also, the first official Theatrical Biomechanics Course for KL Ensemble as a company, began in September. It will end at the end of this month. We had 5 candidates, but one dropped out. Assisting Chris in this course is definitely a good thing. He also makes me do more, allows me to instruct/teach more variations on how to feel the body, which in turn helps the candidates understand their bodies better when they apply biomechanics. I only have seven years of training under Mew Chang Tsing to thank for that. Must catch up with my first Si Fu. Wonder how she is...

Fancy Poultry had a wedding gig in August. It went ok, apart from one or two songs sounding like crap, the rest were ok, and Kay got quite a number of good comments from the guests and her relatives. So, PHEW! It was Fai's, Hazlin's and Kayli's debut with the group, so thy were pretty frazzled by the end of the months of rehearsing. But thank God for Fai. What a difference one guy made. Another PHEW!

Habeas Corpus in JB. Yes. The edition where I played Mrs. Wicksteed, the character Sabera played in the KL run. It was, well, totally unadulterated, daunting, groping fun! I wish I had a few shows to do, as opposed to just one. This was in August too, so you can imagine the mayhem it was to memorise lines, blocking, organising rehearsals between this AND the FP gig... geez. PHEW! Again.

Since then, it's been just training. With watching the latest plays or musicals, learning what to do and what NOT to do. Well, more the latter than the former.

FP have a confirmed gig on Christmas Eve. At Bangkok Jazz some more. I am surprised we even got the gig, given certain past experiences. James, ye old singing partner and friend, will be joining FP for this gig. I can't say much except that I am thrilled to be working with him again. They only needed four singers, and we will be backed by a jazz trio. So am looking forward to this.

My capoeira academy's Batizado, or festival will be happening on the 20th to the 26th of this month. I have to kind of get myself in order for this if I want to get corded (the term they use equivalent to the belt system in karate). We are given cords by the Masters, of course in various colour codings, IF we do well during the rodas. I doubt I'll get corded this year, still suck at certain techniques and timings. But will take part nevertheless. Check out www.bantus.com.my for more details.

These are the updates The Juggler can think of for now. It's already 2.43am. I shall blog again briefly tomorrow, probably around the same time. Now I better say something on pawesome... ta!

Sleepy Biatch

2006-07-12T02:01:00.000+08:00

Lotsa and lotsa things have begun and ended...

Just completed the Beckett Residency at KLPac last Saturday. Our presentation went well, after two 5 day weeks of intensive workshops from 10am-5pm with Sarahjane Scaife. I must say I was totally honoured to be given the part of May in Footfalls, a short play in about half an hour, about a mother and a daughter... well... it's a rather psychotic play about this girl who paces nine steps up and down a strip of floor, because she has to hear the sounds of her "feet, however faint they fall". And she has been doing it since young. Why she does it? That would be up to you, me or anyone else to figure out as the play goes along. And the play takes place when she is in her forties... whether she is actually living or dead is another question. And her mother comes in the form of only a disembodied voice from the dark right through the play (played by Sabera Shaik). A very surreal ghostly play. It does go under the 'ghost plays' category, in Beckett's collection. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I hope I did justice to my character. Sarah and Chris said I did well. Mr. Beckett is such a genius, I kept discovering new angles to her everytime I rehearsed. And your interpretation can be totally different from the next person, just as long as you can (and you will) find that it speaks to you in some way, in your life.

Doing Beckett takes a lot of understanding. And I am relieved that I for one do understand him and his writings better, than when I first started out with Happy Days 3 months ago. The most amazing thing happens when it suddenly dawns upon you that "Hey... I get it!!"

Yesterday was back to normal work. Not full time theatre work, but boring office work. I was relishing my so called full time actor status the past two weeks :D heheh.

Made some friends. Am glad Sarahjane came here. We got certs, each of us. Yeay!

The KL Ensemble is still taking shape slowly but surely. With all the headache some members, especially 3-5 of us, have been going through, like painting the floor in the dark (11pm) with only street lamps and an emergency lantern for light, to burning my hands with the thinner I used to wash the brushes in the dark, to buying fans and getting them in time for rehearsal, to paying the electricity bill so that we can switch on the damn fans for the rehearsal, instead of melting in the heat... I am surprised I am still walking and talking normally. The methane we inhaled that night from the lack of ventilation and overdose of paint definitely got to our heads, coz Hazlin, Derek and I were laughing right through our mamak session after that, for no particular reason. Of course the irony of our situation was enough to make any one laugh with pity. And mind you, we were also in the middle of our Beckett Residency during this time. With our rehearsals and lines to memorise and presentation the next day... sigh.

I swear I could still taste and smell the methane through my nasal passage the morning after.

We are all mad.

Gotta sleep now. Going to the space in the morning. Contractor needs to change the lock, of which I had to use my 'Italian Job' robbery skills and swipe a card through the door to open it the other day.

Later.

2006-06-26T13:15:00.000+08:00

Busy busy busy!!

Yes. The Kuala Lumpur Ensemble Theatre's new space beckons. We are moving this Saturday. Finalising of agreement, payment, cleaning, air conditioning, lots and lots of work to be done.

It will be in Taman Desa. It's a pretty good deal. Once it's up, we will need to generate income from it. Must let the world know there is a new cheap and available space for rental for rehearsals or classes.

Besides that, been getting the wedding gig in Aug together. For Kay. Now that Fai is back, we can actually move forward, which we did yesterday. It was a refreshingly good rehearsal. What a difference one essential voice makes. He better realise his worth. And do his homework. He IS the ONLY male voice... Kay wants us to make a story out of the whole gig, something like a photo slide show you get at weddings, but only its through music. So have kinda written out a draft with Viv on how the storyline will flow with each song. Now to get approval from the bride. Need to make it more interesting and witty though.

This whole theatre company set up thing is really driving me nuts. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I will be pushing forward for tenancy agreements to be signed, pushing for monies to be paid. I mean... I have always been a bitch, but when it comes to business... I know I am not that good at it, so I steer clear. But in this case, there are only a handful of us who are really free and willing to do anything about the situation, so there. And since I am technically one of the directors (bah!), I have to prove my worth... There's always a first for everything. I bet our agent is pulling his hair every time I send him a blur-ass email asking him some blur-ass question like "So only two signatures are needed, not more? And who are the two?", even after seeing only two spaces for signatures. Yes I did that... sigh. Next I have to make sure the utilities are transfered into our name. Kill me please!!

Am at home now... heheh. The Beckett Residency got postponed a day, so we are starting tomorrow. Now to get on with the day instead of vegetate in front of the pc.

At least I got to blog a bit.

Still the Biatch

2006-06-05T02:43:00.000+08:00

LOVING ANIMALS NEED HOMES URGENTLY!!

Yes. Please visit this site to help find or provide a home for these poor creatures. They do not have to pay for our ignorance. These kind souls who started this site are trying their best to save as many of them as possible. Please help further by adopting one today. Only dedicated and responsible owners please.

More updates on my other blog too.

2006-06-02T01:30:00.000+08:00

Finally! I can get past the 'create new post' click. But that is because I am home. My new pc in my office is so old and screwed that I have been having problems in a lot of areas. I didn't have Flash until yesterday, I can't download Quicktime coz I am using Windows 98 and Microsoft discontinued the Quicktime version for this Windows version about 4 years ago... hmmm... what else... ya, this... I haven't been able to do anything on this blog, and since I spend more time on the pc in my office, you can understand the stagnant state of this page. Have to do something about this, or else I'll be updating my blog once a month. Great.

So, much has happened since.

And I owe a few people something about being one in a million... ya ya ... I haven't forgotten :p

Ok, first off, and on a rather sombre note, my childhood friends, who are twins, Shoba and Sheela, had their mom pass away on the 13th of last month. One day before Mother's Day. Life sucks.

I grew up with Aunty and her twin daughters, among the other 5 siblings. Used to go to the house for tuition (she was a mean Math teacher and it did not help that I sucked), dance practise for the school concert, to hang out, to have lunch, for singing practise for the school concert, and so on. She had a good sense of humour, a very witty person who will come up with the right remarks for any situation. She was also a very good mother who was always there, strong and sturdy through all the ups and downs the family had. Believe me, I know. From nursing her husband who had to undergo dialysis every month, to nursing her eldest son when he had his illness that finally took him away too soon... I hope I will some day find strength like that. Aunty, you will be missed. I can still hear you tell a joke and laugh in your ever so gentle way. Your children miss you very much. You have left a big hole. RIP.

And I was ever so thankful on Mother's Day this year. To HAVE my Mommy with me. I organised a brunch and foot spa morning for the mothers (mine, Kenn's and Dyan's) at Dyan's place. I just came up with the idea since we all had our specific mothers to attend to, why not get all of them in one place and serve them. And Dyan's house was the perfect place with its outdoor patio and mini waterfall with koi pond all in one. Thanks to Uncle Goh for allowing us to invade his home so early on a Sunday morning. The children got there by about 9am, well Rodney was already there with Fabien a little earlier, and Kenn had to wait for his sister before coming. So Rodz got to fry the bacon, sausages, hash browns. Dyan toasted the waffles, made teh baked beans and everything else in between that needed to be done. Fabien whipped the cream and helped me chop some fruits. I chopped the rest of the fruits for the yogurt and fruit compote starter dish. Kenneth got the juices which we did not get the night before. Yu Li helped us set the place and make sure everything that needed to be done was done, with Dyan's instructions.

The mothers got there by 10am. Aunty Gert, who had no idea that this was going on, had a shock of her life when she got home from church with Uncle, to find her house swarming with familiar faces she usually spots at night parties at her house, not early Sunday mornings, and smelling of freshly cooked food. Uncle is good at keeping secrets. So after trying in vain to keep Aunty Gert out of the kitchen, I proceeded to fry the eggs according to everyone's own personal choice (scrambled/bullseye/omelette/fried both sides), while the feasted on the yogurt and fruit compote. Then of course the rest of the food went down with ease at first, until everyoen felt a little too full from the three course brunch menu.

The last thing on the list was the home made foot spa that each of us was going to give our mothers. We got the chairs ready on the patio, I laid out the choices of oils and scrubs available for the day. With the hot water in the basins, we began the spa with a foot soak and milk bath with Nespray milk, orange peel and Eucalyptus oil. Rodz did Aunty, must score points maaa... Sasha started off with mom-in-law first, and I did my Mommy. Then the mothers got a foot scrub. They all decided on the coffee, olive oil and sea salt scrub that Seema made some time back and passed some to me. After they relished the effects of the coffee... to top things off, came the massage. Mommy and mom-in-law chose the L'Occitane revitalising oil that Shoba had bought for me, while Aunty Gert chose the Aesop hydrating oil that Seema so kindly lent me. Kenneth gave his mom the massage. After an hour and fifteen minutes, the spa was done, and the moms had a look of relaxation and relief in their faces. I was just thankful that I had my Mommy with me.

I bought a keyboard!! Finally!! Got this third hand from Mia. Thanks a lot Dear! Now am desperately practising my fingering, which has deteriorated to the point of my fingers taking on a life of their own. Still figuring out how the damn thing works, with its 101 button combinations *boggled*. Tried to come up with some tunes to songs... still no OOOMPH. But the bottomline is... I have a keyboard!! YEAY!!

Last week saw Janet and me have the privilege to perform some avant garde improv movement with a paper artist from Austria. Tone (pronounced toe-nay) Fink, a 63 year old boy, yes, boy. He reminds me so much of my dad, with his playful and childish ways. Ends most of his sentences with Miaow! I felt like a kindergarten teacher at some point, after having myself feel the need to tell him to STAY in one place during our technical run (I did tell him in the end and he listened).

The event was called EUphoriA. It was supposed to be held at the outdoor stage built specially for this event organised by the Austrian embassy for their clients and friends. Thanks to Pat for calling me. He needed two girls, so I called Janet. She agreed. Pat also called another guy, Alwin. So we were the Paper Stooges, with the Paper Chief. He basically makes designs with his paper. You can actually wear them, and give them life. I wore a warrior suit, a twin head tribal costume (with Janet) and a worm-like tunnel costume. We had 3 parts to perform and improvise to. It went well in the end, although the whole event was supposed to be outdoors, the rain on the two days (dress rehearsal and show) did not allow that to happen, so we performed inside Pentas 1 instead. It was an experience to cherish. We worked well together and Tone kept remarking how lucky he feels to have met and collaborated with such wonderful performers. I am just honoured to be a part of it. He is quite an accomplished artist in his country and across Europe. Already miss his quirky ways. he does tend to grow on you.

Also met Ewald, a curator, and Ursula, a fire artist-sculpturor-chainsaw artist-folk singer. She baffled us with her folk song she gave us in the dressing room... so cool. And Ewald is such a darling. Will activate the links to Tone's website when I have them and maybe upload some pics too. Till then... check out Janet's blog entry complete with pics. I have to sleep now. So will be back soon.

SB

2006-05-12T00:57:00.000+08:00

Geez...

Have been trying to get on this blog for four freakin days... Finally I am here and I don't know what the heck to write about.

Just finished tidying, sweeping, vacuuming and wet sweeping the room. I found another dog in there... as in, the fur collected was enough to make one small breed dog, say, a silky terrier maybe. Sneezed my nose away and scared Skeeter (the blur beagle). Tori (the mad golden retriever) just ran downstairs the minute I switched on the vacuum. She hates that thing. I think she thinks it's another animal.

Am actually not done. On a break now. Have to go back and vacuum the matress soon. Yes. This Vax vacuum cleaner, marketed as 'The Powerful DRY vacuum cleaner that WASHES', it says so on the box, cost us RM3800 (lucky can pay installments). It uses water instead of bags to trap the dirt and dust (environmentally friendly). It can do everything. I agreed to buy it because of that, if not I would have chased the sales guy out of the house and set Tori on him after I had a go. The day I saw what shit can be vacuumed out of the matress I sleep on every night (think ice blended frapuccino from Starbucks, only, it's floating in your vacuum cleaner and non-drinkable) was the day I said... yes, I am spending that money! Only thing is it's so damn irritating to assemble every time, with this tube going in here, this gadget in there, water up to a certain level or else the machine will blow up... Thank goodness Kenneth has a good technical memory. Not to say I don't, it's just that I am lazy. And besides, I AM the one cleaning the room, so might as well give him something to do aside from playing with his darn video games :P

Ok am finally done. Skeeter has given up on trying to sleep in the room, and Tori is still looking apprehensive. Kenneth is trying to get rid of me so that he can continue his game. Geez... the perils of having only one pc at home... oh why can't we have two... oh why oh why *holds hands up to heaven*.

Since tomorrow is Wesak Day... that means I CAN SLEEP! But not too long. Have to wake up and bathe the smelly dirty mischievous dogs. Then got some shopping to do for Mother's Day. Planning to give the Moms (Mommy, Mom-in-law and Aunty Gert) a breakfast, a foot spa and head massage. Then probably meeting up with BB. YES! The BEEBS IS BACK!!

Ok ok... Kenneth gave me the look again.

Ciao the mao!

2006-05-08T00:17:00.000+08:00

Zilch

Imagine waking up one morning. You go about your usual day, with the usual trepidation and anxiety. You go out into the fields to gather some food grains, because you have to, with your two year old strapped to your back. Suddenly you hear them. Soldiers? Yes. Guerilla fighters. The Opposition. You run. For your life. Run to get into what is left of your home. When suddenly you feel a rip behind you. You turn around and find they have ripped your child off. And they are beating it. Yes. They have thrown it to the ground and are beating the life out of it. The same child you had strapped to your back, you gave birth to, you fed, and you so-called protected.

This has happened. It is happening now. As I sit here.

In Darfur.

When we kill our children and torture our animals, we are naught.

2006-04-24T17:11:00.001+08:00

The Ensemble has a virtual home!

Yes. Our website is up and ALMOST complete. Go check out The Kuala Lumpur Ensemble Theatre's official website today!

Now we need to get our name cards printed.

And we hope to acquire a permanent 'home' for our bodies to congregate and create whenever we want or need to. Already have a space... now to get down to the legal stuff to secure it. Money Money Money!

And while at it, go watch our latest production, Habeas Corpus playing at The Actors Studio B'sar. Ends this Friday the 28th. Catch it! It's hillarious!! Details below:

Habeas Corpus
A jaded doctor who does anything but relieve problems. A deprived wife.
Their son with "sometimes 3 days, sometimes 3 hours" to live. A sister
in-law blessed with the contours of a billiard table. A dedicated salesman
from a breast-enlargement company. A love-sick clergyman. A drama queen
on a bitter-pill overdose and her nubile daughter with a talent for whetting
the appetite of many a man. A vertically-challenged big shot of the medical
association. A patient with suicide on his mind 24-7. And a maid with too
much time and too little to do.

Put them all in a blender and what do you get? A comedy of blips and
blunders, twists and turns, carnal chaos and moral mayhem. Watch these
dysfunctional characters play the game of life. And experience a domino
effect that will get you high on humour. in short, it's a sitcom set in
the 60s (yes, got flower power and some rolling stones' tunes).

Show Details

Venue:
The Actors Studio,
Level 3, West Wing,
Bangsar Shopping Centre, KL
Date: April 20th – 28th (No show on Monday)
Time:
8.30pm; Sunday 3pm and 8.30pm
Price: RM50 and RM40; RM20 (Students)
Box Office: 03-2094 0400 / 03-2094 1400

I am not in this one because duh... I was in M! The Opera. So I missed out *grinds teeth*. But it's ok... you can't have your cake AND eat it all the time. Sigh.

Now... GO BUY TICKETS!!

Nicks

2006-04-17T16:12:00.000+08:00

White Supremacist Trash

Think blonde blue-eyed innocent 13 year olds... NOT!! In fact they are anything but. They call themselves Prussian Blue, because it is a pretty colour and also because it is the remnants that is left after the gas Zyklon-B settles... the gas they used in the Holocaust.

Basically, these bitches are the offspring of April Gaede, a white racist writer or something (who cares) living in Bakersfield, California. Her twin daughters, Lamb and Lynx, are pretty little teenagers, and the latest folk sensation of the racist kind. One plays guitar, one violin. They sing about how the world would be a better place without 'muds', the coloured people. They sing about how the white people are oppressed, living in a world where coloured people are allowed to do what they want. They speak of Martin Luther King as someone who slept with white prostitutes. They, along with the other supremacists of the National Vanguard, claim that the Holocaust was a hoax. That it never happened. Worst of all, they are getting publicity.

Of German descent, these girls are being thought that the world they live in is supposed to be for the white people. Their stupid mother removed them from normal public school and is home schooling them, claiming the history books are teaching them wrong. She got hold of history books prior to the Human Rights Convention, before the 1950s... and is teaching them history from that era. They might even travel to Australia for a concert.

As they say Charity begins at home, so does Shit and Bullcrap. They grow in abundance here.

I don't really want to know where their father is. They apparently make good music. Now, I am totally appalled by the fact that they are using music to spread something as disgustingly tasteless as racism. Yes, faeces like this DO exist, in real time Nicole. So those burnt bodies of women and children... and mangled men which were found in the wonderful Nazi oppressed areas were what... umm, mannequins? Stuffed dummies? Giant dolls? WHAAAAT??? PLEASE FUCK OFF AND DIE!!

Please please please let them live in their bubble... and stay in their bubble of a so called perfect white world... please please please don't come out of it. I hope they never travel further than a 500 mile radius from where they live. Then they can live happily in their White World, and DIE THERE. The planet already has enough to deal with, what with religion being the main reason for war, poverty, suffering. And we have already had our fair share of genocide due to racism.

Frank Zappa once said, "There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another". For the sake of the sane survival of a free and colourful mankind, I hope he is right in this instance.

Suddenly the colour white doesn't seem so pure anymore. Disgusting.

Someone give me a gun. Or some Zyklon-B.

*Grinding teeth*

2006-04-12T13:15:00.000+08:00

Rockstar

Yup, so, about two weeks ago Fai and I made the spontaneous last minute decision to just do it and audition for Rockstar, the reality TV series where they look for a lead singer for a band. Yes the last one was a success where one of my fave bands, INXS, found their replacement for Michael Hutchence, although not quite, I mean, who could ever replace HIM, have you SEEN him in concert... droooool. Sigh. But J.D. is cool. I think he deserved it. Anyway, considering the fact that we were in the middle of our M! The Opera run (last few days) and did not have much of a social life or time for a quick laze in front of the idiot box, we found out about the auditions through Paula (Malai Ali). She was in M with us and since this was a joint thing with Channel V, she was hosting the auditions here. So that's how we got to know about it. Thanks for mentioning it Paula!

So ya, this time they were looking for a lead singer to join a totally new band called Supernova. With an ex guitarist from Guns & Roses (no it's not Slash), ex bassist from Metallica (can't remember their names) and the notorious Tommy Lee from Motley Crue, hell... saying this was a chance in a lifetime is an understatement.

The main reason I made sure I went for the audition was because of the simple fact that THEY WERE HAVING THE AUDITIONS HERE, IN KL, WHERE I LIVE, THE ONLY ASIAN STOP THIS YEAR. If I sat home that day and did not go, I would have labeled myself THE DUMBEST PERSON TO WALK THE FACE OF THE EARTH, and made sure I kept that title for at least two years running! Last year their Asian stop was Dubai. This year they chose KL because of the tremendous response they got from the votes and stuff during the last season.

On to my stressful run up of events to the day. Basically, we decided to do it on Thursday. Night. Called Kenneth from Istana Budaya and asked him to choose some songs for me to sing which he thought I would sound good on. Such an obedient husband. MUAH! Got the songs, downloaded the form, and in my case, got my guitarist (which was Fai aka Justin) in order on Friday morning... thanks a lot Fai, again, for doing this for me :) Also thanks to him and his extensive knowledge of the internet, the lyrics and choice of songs were easier to obtain and decide upon. We got to Istana Budaya at our usual call time, Justin brought his guitar and we jammed all the songs we kinda shorlisted. It was rather nerve wrecking to sing out in front of all the other cast members/makeup artists/hair stylists etc. because, and I think I have mentioned this somewhere before, I AM shy. But Justin forced me to just DO IT. So, after jamming the songs, we decided to do a medley of three of the so called best ones I sounded on, according to Justin: One by U2, Ode To My Family by The Cranberries and You live You Learn by Alanis Morisette. They asked us to prepare 3 songs anyway, so there.

We practised as much as we could before we had to prepare ourselves for the night's show and then we continued to practise after the show at almost midnight in one of the more secluded areas of IB, where I could actually sing in peace. After which we went for a quick mamak session at the Nikko Lotus where the rest of the cast were too.

Then I went home and tried to sleep.

So Saturday arrives. The task of finding what to wear was irritating enough. Couldn't find this particular blouse! Still can't find it! I just finally settled for my usual garb that I wear to almost all the rock concerts I have gone to (jeans, a leather or in this case, pvc jacket and boots, a choker and some bangles with gypsy earrings for accessories), and did the usual rock chick make up, ya' know, lined eyes, dark lips, hair left to fall freely. Auditions were from 10am to 4pm. We wanted to get there as early as possible so that we could finish this off and go straight to IB for our M show that night, gala night some more.

I pick up Fai and his precious Takamine from his house and head to Berjaya Times Square. As we approach the hall, we see la some other rockers. Not many. Very sparse actually. After a small scan of the area Justin spots someone he knows and I spot Wan or Ridz, depending which era you know him from. Well, Wan was from this group called The Lost Souls. They were around for a while in the mid 90's. He is a good singer, but somehow the band did not make it that big, no thanks to the lack of support in our local scene at that time. I say hi from afar, trying to fill in my stupid form which I forgot to fill the night before and keep a low profile. Shy maaa.

We then spot Paula and that DJ from Mixx FM, Non (is that how you spell it?). We say hi and yadayada and hang out with them until we are called to register. Mind you, during all this, Justin keeps going on about the fact that he thinks he should audition anyway, because, during the course of the last evening, he decided against it, claiming that he sounds too pop. So he did not prepare anything for himself. He was merely there to play for me. So he keeps asking should he audition and I keep saying if you really want to, then just freakin do it! So did Paula. But noooo... I register myself with Justin as accompanist. We were number 10 on the list. Not bad. While lining up to get our details keyed in, we met another auditionee. This girl, Joy. A Chindian from Klang. She looked like a rocker and furthermore, she came with her own electric guitar and portable amp. Bloody hell... ok... self esteem dropped about 5 notches. Not much there to begin with. But she was nice.

Then we had to pose for the press and some mags while waiting to be brought in to the main waiting area. As we were waiting... I spotted this moron whom I had the misprivilege of knowing some time back. This guy called Kris Law. Now some of you might have actually heard about or seen the 'fiery yellow shorts' stint on M'sian Idol. Two years ago. Well, this is the idiot. I think he is some deranged, disillusioned, self indulgent serial audition participant... I mean, come on, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately??? The word 'Rock' and 'Star' don't really show up in ANY part of your ignorant pretentious personality or body. And he does these stupid things to attract attention. Like he was making faces, really stupid faces, in front of the camera when we were there. This is what you call REALLY doing it for all the wrong reasons... sigh. Someone send him to Pluto NOW!!

Anyway enough of that. So we wait our turn, warming up and going through my lyrics and singing softly with Justin. Talked to Wan for a bit too. That Joy woman is after us. Duh, yes I was keeping a tab on her. So my turn comes and we go in. We walk in and do the usual greeting.. hi yada yada whatever... the judge is this Michael Gollestani form Mark Burnett Productions, a skinny unshaven dude with a thick Americaaan accent. Duh. He is standing there with a digital video cam. So as I get my head in order Fai decides to relieve his itch on whether he should audition or not and asks this Mike fella whether he can audition after me. Naturally, he was told yes he can, but he would have to go back out, register and come right back in. So FINALLY I got to proceed with my audition first.

It's all a blur to me now. I can't remember whether I was asked what songs I had prepared. I had to introduce myself I think, to the camera. Then I began my first song, One by U2. I sing it, Fai is wonderful on guitar. Mike says oh that was great and do I have another song prepared. Now this could be good OR bad. Luckily I did... so I look at Justin and I decide on Alanis' You Live You Learn instead of the Cranberries song. I begin the song and fumble the stupid first line.. DAMNIT!!! So I ask whether I can begin again. I did. This time ok laaa... phew. I know I went a little flat on the higher parts of the song. Sigh. That guy says alright thank you great and then reminds Justin to go do what he has to and come back.

I go out of the room and Paula is there with her Channel V crew. Yikes. She asks me how was it and I say well, I dunno maaan.. wait and see la. Actually, I can't remember what I bloody said.

In the meantime, Justin has gone back out, gets his form and then I wait around for him to do his audition. In this time, that Joy woman has done her audition, is called back immediately and the camera crew is there interviewing her in all her glory. See... I knew I had to watch out for her. Sigh.

Fai goes in and sings... umm... that Every Morning song by whatsthatbandcalled? Then he is also asked to sing another song. This time he sings Matchbox 20's Push. He sounded good from outside. Then he is also told thank you yadayada... and comes out.

Of course he is also interviewed by the camera crew for a while. We leave almost straight after for coffee at Starbucks downstairs. While at coffee... before we could even FINISH the damn cups, He is called up again coz some newspapers wanna interview him. The Star to be exact. I'm like WHAAAT?? Ok. Cool. So this dude gets interviewed by Jason Cheah, this Star entertainment writer. It seems since Fai is a TV friendly face... they wanted to do a small feature on him, ya' know, being at the auditions an' all. Ya, ok. He does it, more photos are taken. My photo was also taken with him by HOT magazine (which is out now btw, with our pic in it, big one somemore), and then we go back to his place to have lunch and eventually then straight to IB.

We get home, I play some music, he plays foorball with his bro, then he gets a phone call again. This time it's from this Director of Operations at Channel V, saying he wants to meet Justin, like NOW if possible, coz he was told good things about him from one of the other big people at Channel V who met him earlier this morning... riiiiiggghhtt... WHAAAAAT?? Whathefak??? Ok. So Fai asks me to follow him down to Berjaya Times Square AGAIN. Twice in a day. Gosh. That's a first. Anyway I do coz we were still early for call time.

We get there. Parking is a chore since it was like 2freakingpm on a Saturday afternoon.. with morons from all four corners of KL, PJ, Klang and other Moronvilles with no lives congregating at this stupid mall with the biggest this and the biggest that (who cares), but with the smallest substance. The lift we take stops at EVERY floor. URGGHH.

His 'interview' lasts all but 10 minutes. This Jeff guy remembers Justin from his audition the last time. Gives him some pointers on not to be too fake. And tells him he will be called for another audition soon... for Channel V... the next VJ maybe.

By this time I have realised that Fai aka Justin here got the better end of the lollipop stick today... I was sucking on bland stuff... but I am of course happy for him. Coz that's what he wanted.

So.. basically, I did not get called back although according to Paula, I was considered... not good enough lor... Justin will be meeting with the Channel V people next week I think. And I will carry on juggling my passions.

Next will probably be One In A Million... like Fai says... for shits and giggles.

Out.

2006-04-06T14:47:00.000+08:00

A very significant chapter has ended

Yes. M! The Opera had its last curtain call on April 2nd, last Sunday.

I think every single one of us, if not all, members of the cast, either are or will be feeling the emptiness in our lives. Some will celebrate the emptiness, others might pine for the same rush, and a few might just feel, well... like nothing ever really mattered anyway.

Now it's back to life as we know it. Normal mundane life. But not that long for me. Thank God. Have agreed to do some retrospective shows with Six2Eight at the end of the month, so will be starting rehearsals tonight as a matter of fact. And I will be sitting in for as many Habeas Corpus rehearsals as possible, to help out and see the progress. It's a real pity I am not a part of this play. I know I will regret it immensely. But hey, I had to choose between M and this. Damn choices!!

Am not in the mood to say much here yet. Maybe next week. Still getting used to the sudden wave of free hours at my disposal. Still haven't got that haircut and that overdue massage. And still missing everyone, some more than others.

It's the week of recuperation.

Kenneth is excited. He seems to be planning stuff for us to do everyday. Poor fella. He finally has his wife back.

So waitlah. Maybe I'll babble more later.

Nicks

2006-03-27T16:29:00.000+08:00

EXTRA SHOW FOR M! THE OPERA TUESDAY 28TH MARCH 8.30PM!! GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!!

Yup... you read it. Call now and get them. I know some people were trying to get good seats but failed... so CALL NOW!!

Get tickets at:

ticket2u

ticketcharge

Ticketcharge hotline: 77262002

Or go straight to Istana Budaya and purchase them at the boxoffice.

M! The Opera Official Website

COME ONE COME ALL!!

EPOUSTOUFLANT!!

2006-03-23T12:47:00.000+08:00

M! The Opera OPENS TONIGHT!!

Yesterday was preview night as well as our second full dress rehearsal, so we had a very friendly audience of family and forgiving friends... Tonight will be THE REAL THANG! With all the hype about this show for a year already, we have some pretty high expectations to meet. And it does not help that it's after PGL too...

I am exhausted, aching all over, a walking zombie and LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!! You gotta love what you do maaaaan, to feel this way... and I do feel I am blessed, production after production. Wouldn't change it for the world.

Ooh M! Ah! Epoustaflant!

Biatch

2006-03-07T15:58:00.000+08:00

Drip drip crumble brrrrrr...

Visited my office Ah Soh's (after much bugging from her) new low cost apartment block today.

After living in a squatter housing area by a river which is more like a huge dumping drain in SS2 for most of her married life at least, with high theft rates by the local neighbourhood drug addicts and delinquents (her house was robbed 5 times last year), abuse by authorities to move out soon or else (even though they did not have anywhere to go), insufficient plumbing and electricity supplies, risking injury from rubbish and pieces of old furniture thrown from another nearby apartment block into her house (crashing through the roof), endless nights of rain leaking into the house caused by the holes from the rubbish and bad patch up work... the list goes on..., she has now moved into a low cost flat on the 5th floor, just walking distance away from her beloved Kampung Damansara Dalam.

Whether this is better is yet to be proven.

I drove into the parking space thinking hmm... ok, this is going to look like a pack of sardines once the rest of the tenants move in. Then we get to the lift. This was block A of, I think, 5 blocks. There were two lifts moving at snail speed. They could fit in 10 people uncomfortably, 7 comfortably. We reach her floor. The place is drowning in the cacophony of the other blocks still under construction as well as the drilling coming from other units having their necessary renovations by their owners. The coridoor was long and narrow. One thing appropriate I noticed was the builders actually fitted in a front grill for all the units. That's very good of them. At least some form of security.

Then we get to her unit. The place is bright. Quite airy but hot because of the openness of the area. It has no shade whatsoever. The floor is a nice terrazzo type flooring. The rooms are small and claustrophobic. There are 3 rooms. There is one bath and one toilet for the whole family to use. Mind you this is an area with a majority of chinese with a smattering of either Malay and Indian here and there. Most of the families would have at least 4 children...

My colleague and me are shown to an area where the wall is leaking internally, with a basin on the other side clogged and leaking where it should not be, and this is even before she has moved in. Sigh.

Then Sam (my colleague), the Mr. Fix-it of the office, bangs his palm onto the walls... and the whole room vibrates and resonates a nice bass drone. I do it too and the same thing happens. I kind of liked the sound. Now if this was an M rehearsal and Saidah wanted the basses to produce a nice deep earthy sound, it would be perfect. But it wasn't. It was someone's HOME for God's sake!! The walls were built around beams filled with chalk plaster. No bricks whatsoever. They were so hollow inside I would be wary to live there. All I would need was to lose my temper once, throw something or someone onto the wall and everything would crumble... gosh.

And she lives on the 5th floor. What about the layer beneath the nice terrazzo??? Yikes.

We took a peak at the other blocks still under construction from a window. You could see how they were putting up the walls. Four corners of beams and some metal rods in between, and plaster. Then a worker followed us down with a wheelbarrow filled with some pieces of broken walls from another unit. Yes, I picked it up... it was chalk and plaster. So easily broken. Sigh again.

So basically just because Ah Soh and the other tenants are the low to middle class group of our society, therefore if their flats crumble one day because of bad irrigation and weather, it will be ok. It's the same as how it is in government hospitals... where if you are poor, it's ok, your child deserves to die because you can't afford the freakin RM100,000 bill your son's new heart is going to cost. Or you can bleed to death... it's ok, coz you're poor. Fucking double standards. YES they can subsidise it IF THEY WANTED TO.

I hope that whole housing development holds up, what with all the wind and rain we get nowadays, otherwise, Ah Soh's whole kampung would be better off in their old place. At least it will be shit they are used to handling... as opposed to going from the frying pan into the fire.

Tell me... is our country so poor that contractors can't afford to build homes with good foundations. The least of them being brick walls??? Whathefak??? And don't give me that shit about economy this and economy that... we have highways giving way but we still pay bloody road tax and toll.

I'm glad I still fall under the 'no need to pay tax' category.

Look at what we have become.

2006-03-07T14:50:00.000+08:00

A spontaneous hillariously stupid moment at rehearsal:

Judy: Justin you are standing in front of Zakri?
Justin: No, Zakri is behind me.
Judy: Shoot me.

2006-02-23T12:53:00.000+08:00

M! The Opera takes official flight

This opera was finally launched on Monday 20th Feb. At the JW Marriot Hotel, KL. Smack in the middle of hell. We had to get there by 1pm latest. It's like the witching hour, except in the day. But the jam wasn't thaaat bad lah.

The gals and.. umm, our very own male geisha Zedeck got our hair done at Grace Salon at BSC. We had to be there by 11am to be done by 12pm. I think most of us made it. The salon girls just wanted to get rid of us as soon as possible. At least those were the vibes I got. What to do.. services for free maaah.

So we got there, walked around, checked out the ballroom, some of us packed and ate Kenny Rogers Roasters for lunch outside the ballroom, coz God knows most of us can't afford to dine in this very upmarket pretentious place.

Then we put on our red and black costume combos, had our blocking and staging done by Jo and then we ran through the line up with Saidah. By then it was nearing 4pm when the press conference was supposed to start. And once again a rush make-up job was called for. All my training after years of getting dressed in hotel rooms/hallways/washrooms/public toilets/make shift changing rooms, and making-up in 20 minutes tops in the same places came into effect again. It's called nerve-wrecking fun.

The pc began. We had speech after speech. Then we were on. I think the sound sucked big time. But all of us performed to the best of our ability, or at least, I hope so. Then we had to take pictures, mingle with the press and whathaveyou. The smart ones headed straight for the food. Haha.

Some of us were interviewed by different media/press people. Some well known bloggers were present too. Justin and I spoke to this guy from an online magazine called www.think.com. Must go check it out.

Hope the press were impressed.

After more mingling and posing for photos (including posing with a new Mercedes car model) we headed back to Bangsar for rehearsals. Of course I got stuck in a jam coz I was on the road during the OTHER witching hour in KL... i.e. 6pm onwards. Helltime again. Got to B'sar in time for a quick stop at Starbucks with the guys before getting to the warehouse.

It was a good day. Glad it's finally out there for the world to buy tickets to come and watch. Now to make sure they have a damn good reason to do so...

Nicks

2006-02-22T10:58:00.000+08:00

They say misfortunes/strange occurences come in three's. Or at least, you hear this from friends and the like. This will not be the first for me.

My story today will intend to summon up and hopefully, end the taboo of three crime-related encounters my family and friends had. The degrees of shock value vary in all incidences.

Mom-in-law gets mugged OUTSIDE OUR FRONT GATE.
This happened on Sunday night. Around 10.30pm. I was at PGL. She had just reached home and had gotten out of the car when she noticed this blue Kancil pass her by, then come to a stop and reverse back to where she was. There were four men inside. Her female intuition was kicking in and she was already getting suspicious. Then this guy opened the car door and asked "Mana SS2?" She answered from where she was that it is not this side of town and ran towards the gate. Then she heard footsteps behind her. Before she knew it, the bastard hit her on the head with a baton, while his accomplice tried pulling her bag from her. She fell to the ground aggravating an old injury which shattered her left arm years before, where the screws that were holding it together actually moved out of its sockets and caused a tear in her elbow area. She was holding some work related stuff as well. They all fell to the hard cement ground with her, while those disgusting, lazy, pathetic pieces of shit drove off with her bag and all its contents. She was bleeding profusely from the head. Luckily that night Kenneth was at home. He heard his mom call out for help. He and Satish (his bro) rushed her to the Damansara Specialist Hospital which is like a one minute walk from the house.

The security guard at the hospital heard the shouts and screams my mom-in-law was giving and then he noticed a Kancil drive off very fast. He jotted down the number of the Kancil, just in case. When Kenneth arrived at the entrance he found out that the guard had the number and gave it to the police later. Unfortunately they said they couldn't use it because according to them, these bastards have been on the wanted list for a while. They just go roaming around Damansara, SS3, SS2, Kelana Jaya and Kota Damansara and commit crimes of opportunity. And they keep changing the number plate. In fact, when Kenneth was at the station making the report, he tried his mom's handphone. It rang. And one of the bloody bastards answered it. Kenneth passed the phone to the officer. He then heard the conversation on the officer's side sound something like "Kenapa you buat macam ni ha? Kalau aku tangkap kau mampus kau orang. You kat mana ni sekarang? Ah jaga-jaga. Saya kenal kereta kamu tu. Kau jangan pandu kereta tu tau, nanti aku tangkap kau. Nama saya Detektif Amir. Jaga kamu." Surreal. I wonder what the idiot was saying on the other side.

Dear ol' mom-in-law got three stitches on her head. She was discharged after being kept for one night because her blood pressure was high. Her head is aching, she can't lift her left arm higher than her eye level and her shoulder is bruised.

But she is alive. She went back to work yesterday.

Could my fellow M! The Opera cast member encounter the same assholes above two days later?
Doreen called me yesterday while I was at the office. She spoke fast and firmly. There was a hint of panic and disbelief in her tone. She had just pumped petrol at a station in SS3 and had her wallet with her. She was about to get in when this guy came up to her and asked "MANA SS2"!!!.... Now, I had related my mom-in-law's incident to her the day before. I had told her how they approached and the question they asked. The moment she heard his question, shivers went down her spine. She immediately raised her voice and said no she doesn't know and started getting attention from the other people around her. The minute she did that, this guy fled. He just disappeared. He did not have a car nearby. She did not wait to find out if he had one. He just disappeared around the corner. She called me right after that.

I gave her the name and number of the investigative officer that Kenneth dealt with for his mom's case. I told her to call him and explain what happened, so that they will be aware of the whereabouts of these fellas, IF they are the same ones. She did. But the officer said without a car number plate, it was of no use, but thanks anyway for the information. I think he was probably lazy. And he did jot down her details. She did not need to make a report.

I hope I see her later to find out more details.

And the icing on this crime infested cake...

The emergence of The M Team
The M! The Opera cast had a good rehearsal yesterday. We finished around 11.15pm and as usual, since most of us didn't have time to eat earlier, proceeded to our faithful mamak-around-the-corner, Mahbub, in Bangsar. I arrived there first and got two tables for the 7 of us. As I sat down I noticed some policemen getting on their bikes, probably to continue their neighbourhood rounds after a cup-a-teh-tarik. Then the rest i.e. Janet, Peter, Trudy, Soon Yoon, Usama, Shobha and Justin arrived, in that order. We ordered our food and began our usual banter on M, started cracking some jokes, calling each other names, you know, the usual... usual. Then, this image came round our table, lodged his hand towards Janet's lap and grabbed her bag and began to run. I swore I saw him turn back and look at us from out of his helmet (he still had it on) before he really started off.

At this point, Justin leaped to his feet and started chasing this moron. Peter and Usama did the same, but Justin got a good head start because he was facing the outside and did not have tables and chairs to fight through. Then a few other men from other tables gave chase with Justin as well, while Usama and Peter closed in on him from the left side. By now, this germ had jumped onto the pavement where the bus stop is, in front of B'sar Village. His accomplice was waiting for him on a bike on the main road, and was riding slow enough for his friend to hop on and scoot off. By then, another car saw the chase and closed in on the accomplice, making it hard for him to slow down near enough. Believe it or not, Justin managed to catch up with this bastard and grab the bag back from him. At that same point, this other helpful samaritan managed to grab the thief causing him to lose his footing. But he still got up and ran again. Justin walked back to us with the bag. Janet was further behind from me with Shobha. I ran closer, but watched from a far when I saw all the men run after him. Then I saw Justin walk back with this black thing in his hand. I exclaimmed to Janet that he got her bag back. She was in total disbelief. She had said goodbye to it the moment the thief snatched it. As Justin walked back, the crowd cheered him on with claps and shouts of woooo and yeaaaay. You loved it didn't you, Fai?

Janet checked her contents. Everything valuable was in there, including her MP3 player, but her phone was missing. Justin ran back to the spot and there it was... on the pavement. Janet was just totally elated!

Peter, Usama and a few other kind souls continued to pursue this thief, who was by now probably slapping his forehead while panting and wondering why he picked this mamak spot today. They chased him up the hill and past this school, I don't know the name, but it is in the Lucky Garden area of Bangsar. They both split up to cover more ground. Peter was beginning to strategise, "If I was a thief trying to hide, I would... go for the drains. He checked the nearby drains, nothing. Then he thought "What about under the cars." Sure enough, Mr. Idiot was under the second car Peter looked under. Peter grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him out. There was another Malay guy helping Peter here as well. As soon as he knew he was fucked, the thief started begging to not hurt him. Peter shouted out to Usama to get the police. Now by this time, all the commotion had aroused a lot of other people's curiosity. One particular person's attention it got was this big ass Indian guy, who came out of his car with this huge baton-like stick. He really wanted to whack the lights out of the bugger. In fact, he even threatened Peter and the other guy that if they did not allow him to whack the fella, he would whack them too... Peter was like... ok, here .. take him. By then Usama managed to direct the police who were already circulating the area as I mentioned before, and therefore were not that far off. They were already summoned by the other bystanders, and were making their rounds around the same area Peter and Usama were. This big Indian guy in the mean time, whacked Mr. Thief on his shin. OUCH! That definitely hurt I am sure.

The rest of us were waiting anxiously, calling Peter on the handphone to find out where they were and if they needed help. Then Janet't last call to Peter was the one
where he exclaimmed ammidst panting heavily, that the police are here and Thiefman is in cuffs! DOUBLE YEAY!

While waiting for the other two heroes to return, we decided to finish our food. Of course the topic of discussion was the unfurling events of that night. Then they came back... all sweaty and tired. We cheered them on as well. They ate like they deserved it. Their food half cold. Justin could not finish his food though. Neither could Janet. Mine was long gone.

As we were discussing and animating every single thing that happened, about 20 minutes later, two policemen arrived asking the main players, especially Janet, to follow them to the Brickfields station to make a report. We all hop'd into two cars
and drove off in a jiffy. One of the policemen got into Justin's Myvi, with me and Janet, while the other one rode ahead on the bike. Soon Yoon's car was behind us, with Peter, Usama and Trudy. Shobha had to leave. As we waited at the Jln Bangsar traffic lights into Brickfields, entertaining the officer with what we do i.e theatre, M, come watch, etc... as the light turned green, Justin remarks "What a crazy night" and turns. Only problem is, he turns into the wrong side of the road, think America... and oncoming traffic...!! I was like "Justin, we have a police officer in the car" The officer, named Surin, was nice enough to laugh and say "I will pretend I didn't know la, hahaha..." Psychotic.

We ended up at the station at about 12.30am, with Janet going in and out of rooms. We stayed outside, singing and harmonising, at one point too loud, until an officer came up to us with a rifle in his hand, asking us nicely to quieten down. Of course we obliged immediately. Duh. We carried on serenading ourselves under the moonlight. About 3pm we went upstairs to where Janet was. They needed a statement from Peter too, since he was the one who found the culprit. Then Janet asked us to go home as her boyfriend, Justin Tan was on the way there. We waited for him and then we left.

I managed to catch a glimpse of the robber's face. He was seated on the floor of the room where Peter was recording his statement. He is 25 years of age. All that ran through my mind were questions like "Was it worth it? What do you do now? Was your reason to snatch justifiable, now that you may be facing a sentence, and probably more beating? Is life that shitty for you that you take it out on others? Why? I hope your reason is a good one."

God always sends us angels. No matter how small a part they play. We may not know who they are until things like this happen to us. The security guard at the hospital; some at the station that day where Doreen was; Justin, Peter and Usama, plus the other patrons who ran in pursue of the bad guy. All angels, at the right place at the right time. We must be thankful. There is a higher force at work here.

And as usual, I just want to sleep. I hope today's mamak session is a little less eventful. We will be at the same place, I'm sure.

Read Janet's account of this drama here.

Just bear in mind, YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL. ALWAYS KEEP YOUR GUARD UP.

Ze Biatch

2006-02-15T16:09:00.000+08:00

M! The Opera... make way make way for George from the Concrete Kiasu Jungle!! Heheh. Been enjoying his staging/choreography directions so far, while Judi is in India. Can't wait for her to get back and add on her brand of dance and movement to the whole picture. Something like the icing on the cake if I may say so. But what a talented and useful Kerabat we have. So lucky.

Fai dear, you asked me to mention you in here. Wait. I have to mention Kenneth first la... how la? Not yet mention my wonderful understanding husband yet maaa... who had to have dinner alone yesterday (V day).

So, Kenneth... don't worry. I know you exist. And thank you for leaving me alone to do what I want. You are a gem.

As for Justin aka Fai above, he is one of the cast members in M. A musician and actor. Quite talented. Helped him out a month or so back with his body allignment and focus. A Mommy's Boy in denial. A vain pot. The lost 6th member of the Back Street Boys. And a ladies man WHEN he wants to be. Enough for now otherwise he might get too big headed.

Will be heading home to walk the dogs and then to rehearsals. Later ya'all!

Sup B

2006-02-13T14:35:00.000+08:00

Ok.. so this is the first posting of my first blog on this blogging site. Previously jotting down nonsense on Multiply, I decided whathefak... why not? And did this. Umm, just a warning though, some of you might not like or even agree with what you read here. And so be it. Can't please everyone. Having said that, I can be a nice person when I feel like it.....

The other reason I decided on this was because I will FINALLY be getting a computer at home. That would give me a chance to blog more often, as some of you can testify to the fact that I am one helluva lazy blogger... sometimes disappearing for months on end. Well, besides the fact that I can only access emails and the net at the office, I AM juggling a lot of other things at the same time, hence the title above. I promise I will be a better blogger, really. Ok Zal? Janet?

So, for starters, am rehearsing for M The Opera. Vigorously rehearsing. The whole cast is in trepidation, counting down to 23rd March when we open, with a preview on the 22nd. YIKES! All you People of The World (ok, of Kuala Lumpur) must come and watch!!

And umm.. what else. Ok so yesterday was a tiring Sunday, as is every other Sunday for me. Went for Ensemble training at 10am, and that was to set the pace for the whole day, and as usual, today (Monday) feels like Tuesday to me. Thought I could catch some shut eye about 4pm. I did. For literally 5 minutes. Sigh. Then Mommy came over, then Hazlin came over, then Tori and Skeeter demanded some more attention, and then I had to go out. So there.

Today is back to the warehouse. Have to be there by 6.30pm for the 2nd Atelier scene. Also have to collect the pics from Shegar's place. Wonder when that is going to happen.

Till the next time, I hope it's soon...

Ze Biatch