Written by lainie at 11:01 PM on February 2, 2009 in work?, Holidays / Road Trip.

I'm not sure what to blog about. Not for lack of things happening -- quite the opposite, but because there have been so much, every post I write would end up being near blog-epic.

Well, I crossed a bit of a personal milestone on Friday -- I got confirmed at work in The Nut Graph. It's been three months! I like the work there, and it's going well. They do however note I need to read more about local news, which means I am currently finding the whole PKR non-crossover issue in Perak grating on my nerves.

When I read about politicians, I prefer to read more on what's happening in governance and MUCH LESS on the politicking.

So yes. I am a confirmed employee at TNG!
Lainie is gainfully employed, woohoo!

------

I'm trying to work out a holiday plan; spend my birthday in Australia, followed by a visit to Japan. My Macbook Pro is in the workshop, for at least a week longer than the 2 weeks promised, so I've not been taking any extra work. If it lasts a month, I'm gonna cry T_T.

It means I've had oooodles of time for family, but it also means travel on a backpacking budget here -- so this is going to take more careful planning than my attention span is usually subjected to.

I'm excited that I'll be seeing Daph, who's in Torquay and has been asking me to visit for years. Daph and I are both Taureans, itll be nice to celebrate our birthdays together again. I might even check out art colleges there, since I'm in the area.

I'll be meeting Nessa too, in Melbourne. Will coordinate with her there and take the same flight to Japan from Oz. A bit hard to plan with her now cause the nerd's on a holiday in Thailand, for nearly a month.

Anyone want to suggest arts stuff for me to check out in Aust? Graphic-ky design places in Melb?

Written by lainie at 03:19 AM on February 7, 2009 in Rants.

In March 2008, I was watching tv with my mother, dreading the idea that unlike Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, and Selangor, my own hometown Perak would not be an opposition state. I didn't want Ipoh to be left behind. It was a huge sense of relief for me when BN lost Perak.

Now, it looks like BN has wrested the state away from Pakatan through defections (read: Perak must not fail).

I'm dismayed, but I also think this is what happens when you field any ol' candidate. It's a pity better people weren't put forward. And since Pakatan was playing the crossover game earlier, there goes their moral highground.

Do I like Pakatan Rakyat? I have my reservations. Here's one of many reasons, courtesy of Mkini:

Don't be 'pondan', Umno told

Andrew Ong | Feb 6, 09 10:55pm

An articulate Perak Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin revealed his combative streak and colourful vocabulary today by challenging Umno to a duel.                     MCPX "If Umno is jantan (a man) then battle it out with Pakatan Rakyat through elections," was his challenge. "Tapi Umno dayus dan pondan sepenuh pondanya," was his conclusion during a press conference at the menteri besar's official residence this evening. 'Pondan' is the colloquial term for effeminate men while 'dayus' can be loosely translated as a coward.

I hate their homophobic and sexist rhetoric. I edited a video of polling day in KT for work, and at 1:07 of the video, you'll see a huge poster blown up. It says "Puteri Umno tagih seks". It was some PAS members, jeering at the Puteri Umno group across the road by waving the poster at them.

Yeah, nice.

When you blatantly brandish sexist posters like that, you really think I'd want to vote your group into anything next time? As long as Pakatan is inhabited by sexist, homophobic goons running free, they'll always be the less-than-ideal BN alternative to me.

Don't get me wrong though. I don't like Barisan Nasional any better (in fact, I have more reasons to dislike BN).

And by the way, Malaysiakini: The next time someone uses the word "pondan", don't call them articulate. It's insulting and base, from both Nizar and you.

Written by lainie at 03:00 AM on February 10, 2009 in Daily Life, Friends, Links / Email, Arty stuff.

It's been a good week in many ways.

From hanging out with my favourite potty-mouthed girl, to silly email exchanges, a friend I love grabbing her boobs and declaring "These aren't real!", and collaborating on some artsy projects.

I had the spiciest Szechuan steamboat lunch ever, got unidentified white paint sprayed on me, bought three notebooks from Daiso (pic on right is breaking in one of them) and had breakfast at 4pm. I had some dreams die on me about the same time I built new ones.

My Macbook Pro is back, after too long. And with the absence of hardware for an indeterminate period of time, comes a dearth of freelance projects. Given the current global situation, not the best of times to lose steam.

Found a long-lost piece of my childhood in the form of an awesome video -- 7 Lucky Stars. Seven kung fu kids totally pwn adult baddies. Almost as awesome is this Donnie Yen breakdance video.

Was talking with Kat about this girl, since she wanted to know why I wasn't actively pursuing her.

Lainie: What? I like girls with strong personalities.
Kat: You like girls with strong-personalities-can-die.

But yixing, you know you're always num-bah-wan. Who else will layan me when I'm scared of the dark, bay-beeee?

There has been a remarkable amount of questions directed at me lately that go along the same theme. Do I look too single or something? Some furry potato head not doing her job, I reckon.

Last week, I was hugged upon arrival at work by Shanon

Shanon: You need this

Lainie: Thanks, but why?

Shanon: Perak *walks off*.

Hehe. I've been leaving emo / pissy comments all over TNG because of the takeover, and comments go through Shanon first.

I am reading: Strawberry Panic (a yuri book that works much better as an anime); The Day of The Triffids; Zaid Ibrahim's In Good Faith (which feels like I'm back at work); and a smattering of other titles. I have serious difficulty sticking to just one book, and am always well impressed by any title that can mesmerise me from beginning till end.

I called Daph in the morning. She was at work in Jan Juc, Australia, and screamed down the phone "TAPAU ME SOME BEEF NOODLES". She laughs at how she used to jump up and down outside my home demanding breakfast in (shocker) the morning. But it made her happy, and however grumpy I was from the lack of morning graces, I could never be cross at her.

How can I get pissed off at a ball of sunshine who lights up at the sight of beef noodles in the morning?

By the way, this is for those of you with fancy phones out there. My phone can't even do polyphonic ringtones, so I can't participate, but I was forwarded this mp3 that has been making the rounds amongst some cool people. All the more cooler considering how much they don't usually give a damn about politics.

"Oh si katak, yang berlompat" I was going to type out the lyrics but I did horribly in BM Lisan tests for a reason.

Direct link to MP3 for download: I love democracy.mp3 (23 secs; 356KB)

It reminds me of Fang's ringtone, this high-pitched kid saying in Cantonese "Your mother cari you, your father cari you, your sister cari you, etc etc". It's about the crossover situation in Perak, kind of. But in a very short rhyme. Go ahead and download it for a listen, if you'd like.

Written by lainie at 03:23 PM on February 16, 2009 in Friends.

A first in years*:

i) I'm in an international coffee chain for the second time within a month
ii) I even bought a drink and
iii) it's Starbucks.

Kat and I bought a drink each, which cost more than our lunch. I am having a green tea soy latte because I like green tea AND soya milk, and figured it was a safe option.

I didn't realise when they said "green tea", they really, really, really mean your beverage will be...green. I peer into my mug every so often and imagine it burning up my insides. I'm actually a little uncomfortable about this.

*But for Austin Chase in BSC years ago, when I worked there, I don't think I could say I've ever done it before.

Kat said it's because she wants to use the wifi here, but I just realised she uses a Maxis broadband modem. I kena conned

I've had a very good weekend, with the kinda artsy activities and people that I tend to like. First off, there was the Free Hugs campaign some friends (and Couch Surfers) were up to in Annexe. I decided not to participate beyond one hug (and even then, it was my housemate I hugged).

I also tried out the fish spa thing, the kind that kiss away dead skin from your feet, and nearly passed out from my giggle fits. It's seriously very ticklish. Voluntarily being fish food is interesting.

Got my palm read with Juria. The palm reader told us our lines / numbers say we'll get along well (which I thought fairly obvious since we both went to see her together). She told me a few things:

1) I am exceedingly hotheaded

2) I have wealth in my hands

3) I will do well in a man's job (SHRUG - DIA CAKAP OK, yang berfeminist itu semua pergi cari dia)

4) To get my husband, I need to think less. And be less serious. In fact, her exact, repeated, and emphasised phrase was I "must be silly, must be silly". It seems my fate is with insecure bimbos, even though those qualities don't strike me as attractive.

5) My life will be (and is) littered with heartbreaks. I think the irony of her telling me this on Valentine's Day somewhat eluded her. Or maybe somewhere in my palms it said I don't celebrate that day anyway.

6) My hands say I'll travel, because of the "fish" shape on one of the lines.

And strangely enough, considering I'm using Kat's computer, I just signed into MSN chat from elsewhere. 

Written by lainie at 07:11 PM on February 17, 2009 in Friends.

I cooked some lunch today, and figured I'd eat out tonight. So the first person I call is Kat:

Lainie: Dinner?

Kat: I just had lunch dear.

It's almost 7pm. Usually Kat's schedule matches mine just nicely (by virtue of us hanging out for meals a lot). She told me off for laughing at her.

So for "normal" dinner hours, I called Smile. After confirming our plans,

Lainie: If you ffk me, you owe me a kidney!

Smile: JESUS you lesbians are--

Lainie: Well at least this way, you'll always be a part of me.

And then I started cackling like a maniac because I don't know where that retort came from.

Smile: I hope you're at least as scared as I am.

Speaking of organ donations, Lola has in debatable kindness offered her appendix and tonsils in exchange for some design work. Adri, on the other hand, said she'd part with her eyeballs. Which seems more useful.

To be fair, I told Adri that what Lola offered was a kidney.

I was told off by Annie for not mentioning it, but over the weekend, I had a wonderful brunch at her apartment.

Anne got lobster and champagne, and rice wine. AND two salads. Yummers. We watched Jerry Maguire -- it's almost appalling how much Ding and Annie can quote.

I enjoyed myself very much and would love to make it for the proposed Thursday's Oscar movie night, but I have to work.

Colin left this observation I wish I'd made on my post (on Facebook), about the palm reader saying I have to act silly to get a husband:

It just simply meant "You must be silly to get married". In other words, don't.

Hee hee.

Written by lainie at 04:20 AM on February 19, 2009 in Rants.

In case you've been living under a rock the past week (or even Tokyo - hi Annu!), you will know Selangor exco Eli Wong's privacy has been majorly messed with (The politics of decency - The Nut Graph) recently.

We were talking about the Eli Wong case earlier, at work. Mostly about how language has been used in relation to it. It's an interesting exercise, deciphering how different newspapers / websites have been describing the case.

Take, for example, Malaysiakini's article, titled "The political rape of Elizabeth Wong".

Are such terms like "rape" used because Eli Wong is female?

What one colleague asked was: Would they have said "The political rape of Chua Soi Lek"?

To which my editor replied: How about "The political buggery of Anwar"?

[ If Malaysiakini looks like it gets the brunt of my criticisms, I should declare it has the dubitable honour of being the only local news portal I frequent, besides The Nut Graph (for obvious reasons). ]

On a side note: Of all actions that can be put upon a female, rape seems to be the most common device used to symbolise violence. Take for instance, the Zapiro rape cartoon, along with the long-winded defenses on measures taken to ensure its relevance. I'm not saying the illustrator meant evil, I'm just asking what the portrayal reflects about the norms.

I am greatly upset and angered by what's been happening in our country lately. The rot goes deep. And perhaps, by working for a political website, where we receive way more rumours and conspiracy theories than the norm, I feel extremely under-informed about the wealth of potential key issues we may be facing.

I join the chorus of voices that say what Eli Wong does in her own private time is her business, and I do not want her resignation accepted. Given the reasons, she has offered not to be a liability by tendering her resignation. However, I think she's done no wrong and it's up to Pakatan to suck it in and stand up for Eli.

My logic is loosely based on the idea that a good employer stands up for the employee when she has done no wrong.

Anyway, this is an email I'd like to share, sent out by the band Panda Head Curry?, especially the bit at the bottom (under "Serious Stuff"):

Woo Hey Kiddies!

We’ve got some FUN STUFF and SERIOUS STUFF in this posting. The FUN STUFF details our up and coming gig at The Actor’s Studio, in Bangsar Shopping Complex, this Friday, 20 Feb 2009 at 8:30 pm.

The Serious Stuff is Panda Head Curry?’s take on the recent scandal to hit our only favourite politician, Elizabeth Wong. Make sure you scroll down to read this, kiddies.

Fun Stuff

We had a ball of a time at the Central Market Annexe Gallery in Valentine’s Day! Well, we’re scheduled to perform at another gig this week,

The Actor’s Studio Gala Farewell Gig!!!

 We were made to understand that the Actor’s Studio in Bangsar Shopping Complex will be renovated and turned into a genetic engineering farm, where human clones will be grown in vats, and their organs harvested when necessary. Anything not used, will be sent to the nearby rendering factory.

We are very honoured to be asked to perform at this ultimate series of shows to mark the historic tenure of this theatre by The Actors Studio, Joe Hasham and Faridah Merican's famous drama company.

For the record we, The Panda Head Curry? have never been invited to perform at this venue, ever. Never, Ever.

In fact, The Actor’s Studio have no idea we’re performing, they think some lame gloom folk goth singer songwriter, 13 Voices In My Head, will be performing 360 Degree Head Rotation Covers. We shall be hijacking their sorry ass black garbed set.

The Singer songwriter Performances consist of three shows featuring 18 acoustic artists to mark the final, regretful curtain of this wonderful and legendary theatre. 

However, of these 18 acoustic artists, only one is really relevant, The Panda Head Curry?.

Format: Songwriter Death Match

All shows are free and begin at 8.30 pm so do turn up to support this beacon

Each show will consist of 2 sessions. For each session, three performers will be put on stage. Only one survivor will exit and claim the prize, a sheep/ virgin.

Fri 20: Markiza and Peter Brown, Tan Sei Hon,  Ida Lisa, Jerome Kugan, 13 Voices in My Head (The Panda Head Curry?), Tony Leo.

Sat 21: Blister, Ariff Akhir, Wani Ardy, Azmyl Yunor, Edwin & Albert, Silent Scenery.

Sun 22: Otam, Ian Chow, Jasemaine Gan, Izzy Mohamed, Kevin Broken Scar,Rashdan Harith.

Plus guests: Frid 20: Priya K, Pang Khee Teik Sat 21: to be confirmed

Sun 22: Farah Rani.

HURRY LIMITED PASSES AVAILABLE

Call The Actors Studio @ BSC at 03-2094 1400 / 0400 now!

Serious Stuff

Firstly, I’d like to clarify that The Lord Panda, his alter-egos and his companies have no affiliation or affinity for any political organization. Off stage and out of character, we don’t align ourselves with turbanistas, paranoid supremacists with massive inferiority complexes or directionless cults of personality. We believe Malaysian politicians are generally less evolved than blue green algae. With one exception. Elizabeth (Eli) Wong.

I met Eli through a mutual friend and interacted with her a lot when she was helping the music community back 2006. Eli, along with Sonia Randhawa, Jac Kee and many others helped the independent music community TREMENDOUSLY during Goat Gate fiasco and the Paul’s Place shooting incident, boosting morale, and advising many of those unfairly persecuted during these incidents of their rights as Malaysian Citizens.

Unlike most of the morons we’ve put (or didn’t put into office), Eli’s got to be the most honest, down to earth, capable committed and passionate politicians I’ve ever met. Unlike a lot of individuals who entered the political arena to enhance of their business, Eli’s always seemed to be one of those tree-hugging, whale watching, greenies who lives slightly above the poverty line. I don’t think she even had a car before becoming an assemblyman, she’d rush from the Parliament on public transport just to help at a Paul’s Place press conference, or bum a ride to go for a gig.

An image that will forever stay etched in my mind is her petite form standing at the gate of the Brickfields Police Station, 2006 New Years Eve, over 300 patrons of a hard core punk show detained in the courtyard for being “Devil Worshippers”. She looked at the cops at the gate and inside the compound and screamed at them, DEMANDING to see the OCPD and telling them not to FUCK with her, and to release the kids immediately.

All but 8 detainees were released in a few hours.

 Panda Head Curry? like to ask you show your SUPPORT for Eli Wong, as you are probably aware of by now, been thrust into a pretty moronic scandal, which amongst other things, is a waste of tax payer’s money.

I, The Lord Panda, request all of you to stand with Eli, put up your middle fingers, firmly tell the Toyos and other morons, “Don’t Fuck With Eli”.

What can you do? I’d start by just dropping off a nice message to her at her website:

 http://elizabethwong.wordpress.com/

 Here’s a Facebook group with more information:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55123906845

Go to the PKR website and tell them you want to see her ass back at work. Go to the BN website and tell them “Don’t Fuck With Eli”. I’ve never been to either of these websites, but I’m sure you can find then if you Google it.

The Lord Panda.

Written by lainie at 01:01 AM on February 23, 2009 in Home.

I have an afro pooch sleeping in my bed, with me, for the next week.

Everyone, say hello to Bosco! He's been getting a lot of affection from the gay patrol, and has taken a serious shine to my housemate. He played fetch almost the entire day he was here, and after running out of energy, he acquiesced to being brought into my room.

My bed is too tall for him to jump from, and he's cuddling up to my blankie and my pillows now.

Oh. And. I think the sight of me stepping out of the shower really perked his qi up. Hee hee hee. I may have even done a small Spamalot routine from him. He's the most layan happy audience in the world.

Cutest lil tyke ever, I know. You can tell me.

I just came back from a weekend of hanging out with Nessa, Damo and the Subang boys. And this time, I actually met some really nice girls.

I don't think I can ever go back, but my years in Subang were great and where I bonded with some of my closest friends now. Supposed to see the nerd before she jumps back on a plane to Oz. Sunshine, fun and amoeges.

Written by lainie at 03:54 AM on February 26, 2009 in work?, Arty stuff.

Ah, I smell a blog post in the air. Hiya, you.

Enigmo 2, level 5, completed

To anyone who plays Enigmo 2: I salute thee. I reached Level 8 and am now semi-sprawled on my housemate's bed trying to stop the world from spinning.

Enigmo 2, level 6, completed

Enigmo 2 slowly catches up on you with its dizzying camera controls. I'm spending more time trying to figure out how to control the camera, than on solving the game itself.

I don't know if I can keep playing Enigmo. I love puzzle games, and pretty things. Enigmo 2 is a puzzle game that evokes words like "splendour", "visual feast", and "phantasmagorical beauty", so this should be perfect for me.

Pity about the cameras with the klutzy grace of anIgor. Not the Discworld Igors, then.

I'll stop here, since another writer points out (possibly) everything about this problem: Enigmo 2 Bug Friday: New Dimension Obliterates An Otherwise Awesome Puzzle Game. The brevity of the title is evident once you see the actual length of the article.

For now, I think I'll stick to Gomoku.

Since we've covered my somewhat unsuccessful play stuff, let's talk about somewhat tak jadi work stuff. Mainly, for TheNutGraph. Occasionally, I illustrate stuff. Usually, I love it. Not everything works the way I plan, and when that happens, I may scrap the idea and move on to a different solution.

Still, it only takes a few minutes, so it's always worth a shot.

Here are some of the lil incomplete doodles that got cast aside. My Mac is littered with files like these. I can't remember what most of them are for, but these are a few exceptions:

Ah, the candidates for the Kuala Terengganu by-election. I think I drew this a few hours before Debbie started sending us photos for her stories. You can read an article by her here: Lessons from Kuala Terengganu. I didn't lay this article out, but the...egg-heads...near the bottom of my post were also my illos.

When the candidates were announced, I remember thinking "Fuuuuck, aren't there any pictures of this BN dude (Wan Ahmad Farid) smiling??". I didn't want to draw the PAS dude looking all friendly, and the BN dude scowling, but ... I had limited time and this dude lacked pandering skills.

After multiple accusations against Wan Farid of snobbery, I started finding photos of him with this painful smile-like expression across his face. Here's a comment I left on TNG saying so. By the way, Wahid Endut won the by-election.

With only one exception, every local politician I've had to illustrate has been male. Things you don't really notice till you have to: Most of our politicians wear spectacles. Next up:

MOOOO! Looks like my old giraffe vector, beta version . Selangor MB, Khalid Ibrahim, is being investigated over alleged abuse of power. Half of the case seems to be about his donation of 46 cows. You can read a bit about it here: Protest cow handed over to MACC.

The Good Thing about vectors is they only take about two minutes of manic mouse-clicking in Illustrator to get the basic shape, like above.

Here's a fun one I did use; an image of Anwar. The article, Pakatan Rakyat beyond Anwar, by Wong Chin Huat, was about how Anwar has two sides to him. A nicer, idealist Anwar, and a Machiavellian Anwar.

image taken from "Pakatan Rakyat beyond Anwar", The Nut Graph

I still can't believe they really let me publish it. Like. Really. But they let me do really fun graphics (like the Xmas ad), which is part of the reason I really like working here.

This next one isn't from TNG -- it's an image for Adri and May of the travel website Fortylove.tv.

Helped them throw together a mock-up for some presentation. This was a quick vector of the Twitter bird holding on to a Facebook box, part of a much larger presentation.

The final button size:

Okay that's it. I've tired out le poodle, and it's time for both of us to sleep. Good night!

[ I wonder if my design stuff will get stolen again -_-" ]

Written by lainie at 05:57 PM on February 28, 2009.

Good on you, U-En.

I wish you all the best, and hope a job at a better place awaits you.

[ Er, that being said, was it U-En who should have resigned? Now, let's talk about some two editors at Malay Mail... ]

Written by lainie at 03:26 AM on March 1, 2009 in work?, Friends.

I has naughty tooth.

Me, posing with Nick on one of the late nights we're working together. We sub-edit for TNG, and are also responsible for laying out the articles you see there.

Nick can talk about conjunctive adverbs and grammar rules to the nth degree.
I can go on and on about brand identity and recognise which Photoshop filters were used in many digital images. And since all Photoshop addicts have one token filter they think is overused, mine happens to be the "lens flare" filter. Especially in the Web 2.0 age.

Which isn't to say I haven't resorted to that filter in desperate college times.

I think on this night, Nick was laying out stories while I was designing an ad in Flash (I also do the inhouse ads and some graphic work). Either that, or the e-newsletter. We do musical sing-a-longs, and sometimes when Shanon is in the office, it gets really fun.

This is what I borrowed off Jacq -- True Blood (because I love vampire lore), and Where Monsoons Meet. No prizes for guessing what I'll be up to this weekeend.

Some minced pork noodles I cooked, with some very good leftover roast pork. Cooked for lunch. Twas good. Very, very good. Am also supposed to do a thin fried egg, and chop up some veg, but I didn't feel up to it.

And now, after that picture, it's time for some supper.