Stereophonics' Wild Night Ride (from Straits Times dated 30-Apr-08)

Stereophonics' Wild Night Ride
Welsh rockers Stereophonics' atmospheric park concert shows why the indie band are still around after 11 years

By:Sandra Leong

NO-FRILLS Brit rock was the order of the day at the Stereophonics gig at Fort Canning Park on Monday night.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist Richard Jones and drummer Javier Weyler showed a packed crowd of 5,000 revellers just why they have endured in the indie music scene for 11 years since the release of their debut album Word Gets Around in 1997.

The Welsh outfit have arguably achieved less of mainstream success than, say, Blur or Oasis, better-known Brit bands that gained notoriety in the late 1990s. But true to their underdog reputation, their following has not waned.

The mainly expat audience, some of whom flew Union Jacks or the Welsh dragon standard, started gathering at the venue from 6.30pm. Local band The Great Spy Experiment came on at about 8pm for a 30 minute opening performance.

At 9pm, the main act strolled onstage and launched into Bank Holiday Monday, an energetic track of their latest album Pull The Pin.

The focus was indubitably on songwriter Kelly Jones, the frontman with the trademark pin-up looks and raspy vocals. Sweltering in a leather jacket, he tore through a 1 1/2 hour retrospective of Stereophonics favourites that included recent songs such as Pass The Buck to Traffic and Thousand Trees, from their debut album.

Apart from bassist jones and drummer Weyler, the band were also supported by touring members, keyboardist Tony Kirkham and guitarist Adam Zindani. (Incidentally, it was Kirkham's birthday and the band members got the fans to sing him a birthday song towards the end of the gig)

The atmosphere went up a notch with Mr Writer, one of their biggest hits written as a diatribe against the media.

kelly Jones finally broke for conversation just before It Means Nothing, the lead single from Pull The Pin.

"We wrote this just after the bombings in London," he said before crooning the slow ballad inspired by the terror attacks of 2005. The lyrics:"If the bomb goes off again/In my brain or on the train/Then I hope that I'm with you/Cos I wouldn't know what to do."

After a perfunctory pre-encore exit offstage, he returned onstage solo for a stripped down, singalong rendition of the band's 2003 hit Maybe Tomorrow. The night then ended with the anthemic Dakota, which sent the crowd into a head banging frenzy.

"If you ride a bike at night, wear white", said Kelly Jones cryptically before leaving the stage. Whatever he meant by that, the ride was great, thank you.

Stereophonics Live In Singapore - YouTube Videos

Well some people work hard, some party hard. Thanks to some of this people, we get to see Stereophonics here. Really a great effort from them. Thank you too to YouTube, not sure how can we live without it.

Sit back and enjoy this.This is Stereophonics at its very best in Fort Canning Park

Stereophonics Worth The Wait For Ardent Fans (from MyPaper dated 30-Apr-2008)

Stereophonics rock the Fort (from Today dated 30-Apr-2008)

Stereophonics rock the Fort
But lack of audience engagement takes some fun out of show
The Stereophonics (picture) were on fire, not just because of their scorching rock tunes. The three-piece band burst onstage with the rabble-rousing Bank Holiday Monday — clad in leather on a humid Monday evening.

"Who dressed these guys? Don't they know they're in Singapore?" someone in the audience asked.

Local band The Great Spy Experiment — fresh from its much-talked-about gig at The Esplanade on Friday — turned on the heat with their opening set, playing songs such as Class A Love Affair, Dance With Me and Siti In The City, from its debut album, Flower Show Riots.

After a blistering half-hour set, the 5,000-strong crowd were ready for the Stereophonics, who took to the Fort Canning Park stage at about 9pm.

The anticipation was palpable. After all, the band scored five No 1 albums in the United Kingdom and there was going to be no shortage of hits.

Frontman and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist Richard Jones and drummer Javier Weyler unleashed song after song of their trademark alternative rock. Most of the set consisted of hits from Word Gets Around, 1999's Performance and Cocktails, 2005's Language, Sex, Violence. Other? and last year's Pull The Pin.

Fort Canning green was a forest of arms punching the air for most of the 100-minute show as Jones' tortured vocals sang of all kinds of troubles. They made having problems sound like fun. Except, at times, the fun began to seep away and it didn't help that the band hardly engaged the audience.

"Cheers, Singapore" said Jones after a solid hour of non-stop rocking. The crowd roared in excitement, but nothing more was forthcoming.

There was also a glaring omission in the set — there were no songs from arguably one of the band's most successful albums — You Gotta Go There To Come Back.

Perhaps, the band was saving the best for last? We were partly right as the Stereophonics returned for what was one of the shortest encores here in recent memory.

Jones, alone on guitar, performed a stripped-down version of Maybe Tomorrow from the missing album before the rest of the band joined him for the monster hit Dakota from Language, Sex, Violence. Other?

"Take a look at me now," wailed Jones in the closing part of Dakota. We did, and it could have looked a little better.

Stereophonics Pull The Pin Tour - Singapore 28th Apr

What more can I say about Stereophonics. On 28-Apr-08, at about 9.15pm, they played 20 songs that by far one of the most entertaining concerts I have ever been to. My review going to be biased because Stereophonics is one of the top acts that I fancy the most.The Great Spy Experiment was the opening act. They mentioned their names almost everytime they played a song. Yeah yeah yeah, please stop repeating your name for God heaven's sake.

Stereophonics blasted the night away with their new single Bank Holiday Monday and then it was back to their 2nd album single, Bartender And Thief. They moved back again in time with their 1st album single, A Thousand Trees and then jumped back into one of my personal favourites, Superman. With 6 albums to their credit, this guys can play a whole bunch load of songs.

By the 6th song, drummer Javier Wayler was already without his t shirt. The weather was indeed scorching hot. So that night, I had 2 tasks to perform.One was to get my friend a Stereophonics Pull The Pin Tour T shirt. So I did exactly that. Then I was to sing to Local Boy In Photograph. Did that too.

Kelly Jones guitar prowess and vocal mights is second to none. That night's performance was testament of his ability. Still fresh from his performance at Bangkok 100 Rock Festival on Sat (http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/wonderwoman/2008/04/28/entry-1), he certainly showed no signs of lethargy and sounding fresh. Suprisingly they played Doorman from Language, Sex, Violence, Others. The guitar playing was wicked. Kim, my girlfriend was stunned with the amazingly brilliant display of guitar playing feat.

By song No. 16, Kelly waived to the crowd saying he will be playing a couple of songs from their debut album Word Gets Around, so they played Traffic, Local Boy In Photograph and More Life's In A Tramp Vest.

Its hard for me to pick which was my favourite that night, but I certainly enjoyed the song Devil. Listen to the lyrics and watch the music video and you will know what I mean. The band left the stage only to return back for the encore doing 2 songs. One was Kelly solo on guitar, Maybe Tomorrow, (wish I had that version in my IPod) and followed by the last song of the night, Dakota. Why not, since Dakota was voted by fans online as the best single from them thus far.

With very little talking, Stereophonics just came here to conquer the stage and crowd and left us reeling for more. However I cant still live with the fact that they left out Have A Nice Day and Rewind. A group of fans sang to the tune of Have A Nice Day during the encore, but sadly the song didnt see the light of day.But maybe I am asking too much, 20 songs in a night is indeed a generous setlist.

Oh yeah, they celebrated their keyboardist Tony Kirkham birthday on stage. Kelly popped a champagne and there was a birthday cake carried by a bevy of beauties.

With more tour dates to go in Australia before they wind down their tour in this part of the region in May, I am sure they have etched a mental picture of their brilliant performance that night in the minds of many fans.

Duffy

Well tonight will be rocking to the sounds of Stereophonics. Will blog more about it tomorrow after the concert. However on Sunday, after lunch with my friend from Malaysia, went to HMV as usual to check out what latest offerings they have. Stumbled upon this new artist, Duffy. Frankly from afar, the album sleeve's singer name looks like Hillary Duff. So didnt bother to check it out.

But the music played on air was catchy and was quite unique. With a tinge of jazz and blues with pop, the songs really caught my attention. Little did I know, its from this album Rockferry - Duffy.

Before I went to bed, played it on my CD player. I think I dozed of at Track 4. Before anyone starts to say that this album sucks, on the contrary, this album is brilliant. For once, someone is singing something unique and different. No wonder, they called this new Welsh singer, the next BIG star. By the way, Rockferry hit the No.1 spot for 5 weeks in UK Album Charts.

So tonight it be on another Welsh act, Stereophonics. Fresh from their performance in Bangkok 100 Festival over the weekend, they will be rocking Fort Canning Park. By the way, will be donning a Korn t shirt tonight. Think its more approriate attire than what I wear in in the last MCR concert I attended, my working clothes....hahahaha...

Stereophonics - MyPaper

From MyPaper Dated 25-Apr-08

NTV7 8PM News

Anyone here watches NTV7 primetime news at 8pm? I do. Ever since 08-Mar elections, I try to make it a ritual that I catch the day's election updates. Post election, I still tune in to NTV7 because among all the news stations on Malaysian channels, I perceived it to be the fairest in terms of its coverage.

The thing about NTV7 primetime news is that the likelihood of seeing newscaster fumbles while reading the news is a norm. Initially I thought that pre election coverage with news streaming in at a rapid pace might have resulted in the news coverage to be a little spontaneous. Too hot to handle. However yesterday and the day before yesterday, the newscaster just cant get the news right. At times she needs to rely on her papers. And on some occasions, she just fumbles along the lines. You can really sense, something is not working out right with the equipments.

NTV7 is not a new tv station. Hope that they make an effort to bring us more professional news reading and take a cue from other stations. Constant fumbling on air is really unacceptable if you ask me.

Dont Pay Lah.......

Do you believe that the rich gets richer, and the poor gets poorer? Or how about the rich dont pay up but the poor do? Anyone heard before of Mohammad Yunus, the Nobel prize winner that created micro lending bank where it lends to the poor. No collateral needed. Once you are back on your footing again, you pay up. Suprisingly the poor do pay up. And the bank is going strong as ever and even the Bangladeshi government is supportive of the scheme.

However not going to talk about this today, want to talk about the Blairs. Yes the Blairs. Found something interesting in the papers today. It was reported in Daily Mail that Tony Blair was caught for not paying a £24.50 train fare. His reason for not paying?The money an aide had given him the night before was no longer in his pocket.Hahahaha.......isnt that amusing? Anyway the ticket inspector waived the first class fare and Mr Blair had the 15-minute journey for free. But to be fair to Blair, his bodyguard did offer to pay on his behalf.

Now, this is not the 1st time the Blairs has gotten into an awkward situation. Back in 2000, Mrs Blair too had her fair share for not having a ticket. She boarded a train at Blackfriars station, London, without a ticket for her journey to Luton. When she reached the underground style barriers at Luton she told the ticket collector she did not have a ticket and had to pay a £10 penalty and £9.70 return fare.

Well kind of amusing dont you think so? But look at the bright side. At least they behave and act like commoners. Anyone seen before PM Spore or PM Msia taking the public transport to work or to anywhere? Super duper highly unlikely...........

Heng Kee Curry Noodle

Alot has been said about Heng Kee Curry Noodle at Hong Lim Food Centre. Guru Seetoh has raved about it in MakanSutra and it has appeared in many various other food critics write ups or shows.

About a year ago, I was walking around Hong Lim Complex and I stumbled upon this long queqe. So seeing a queqe when my stomach is screaming "feed me" is definately a turn off. Fast forward, 1 year later, I decided lets have a go at this curry noodle.

Nothing changed. Still I need to put up with 18 people in front of me and waited for about 40min in the queqe. Here you see me already at the front waiting to pounce on the curry noodle hahahaha.

Verdict? Nice. Not sure whether you can call this curry gravy because the gravy is not the conventional gravy you normally find. The soup is not that spicy, the gravy is sweet in which I suspect white carrot might have been used as a sweetener. Then again, this is just a hunch. The chicken meat is nice. The auntie basically chop chop chop the chicken and put it into the bowls depending on whether you're ordering the $4,$5 or $6 meal.So if I have a chance to try again, why not. But if you ask me to wait for another 40min, I will need to rethink.

MPs attendance

MPs told to give reasons for missing Parliament
By SIM LEOI LEOI
PUTRAJAYA: Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament will have to inform the office of the chief whip if they have to miss proceedings due to various reasons.

This is particularly so when the Government's majority in Dewan Rakyat has been reduced to less than two-thirds in the last general election.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said it had always been the practice for Barisan MPs to inform the chief whip's office if they could not attend sittings due to various reasons.

"But when you had a huge majority, of course, the situation was very comfortable for us.
"It's not that we didn't enforce this ruling then. Many MPs are responsible and will explain but some may not be able to attend because they are visiting other countries, such as being part of the entourage of the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister's official missions overseas," he told reporters Tuesday after meeting with 11 Indonesian parliamentarians at his office here.
Najib, who is the chief whip for the Barisan coalition, said errant MPs who continue to absent themselves from Parliament without giving due notice might face disciplinary action.
"Warnings will also be issued to them. If they continue with their errant ways, they may not even be selected to stand for general elections in the future," he said.

The high rate of MPs' absenteeism, particularly those of Government backbenchers, during Dewan Rakyat sittings had often been noted in the past.

In the last general election, Barisan managed to secure 140 seats while the Opposition had 82, in comparison with the 198 seats the former used to have.

Twenty-nine MPs, including three ex-ministers and one former deputy minister, had also been come under fire recently for failing to submit any question to Parliament, which begins Monday.
Najib said although Barisan MPs were not compelled to submit any query, they were encouraged to do so as this would reflect their care for the rakyat (people) as well as being active in Parliament's proceedings.

"However, the number of queries is actually more than the question and answer time allotted for it. In every sitting, only some 12 questions in the list would actually get fielded so there are enough questions for this new Parliament," he said.

Comments: Yes Sir. BN MPs, better buck up or ship out. If there were some important laws or amendments that needs to be passed in Parliment, and BN tak cukup kuota to stop it or pass it, too bad lah. So starting from today, BN MPs need to kerja rajin. Good for rakyat, dont you all think so?

Plus heard that Pak Lah has a bad record for attending Parliment sittings to.So will he attend Parliment more regularly now? Not that I want to say we need to ape the West but in Britain, PM has always made it a point to attend Wed sessions. And how about Rafidah? She also not a regular attendee I heard, thats why Kit Siang had a hard time pinning her down for an answer for the AP scandal in Parliment not too long back.

But sorely miss would be Samy Vellu, as much as we hate him, this guy attends Parliment sittings regularly. But his unblemished track record for attendance is irrelevant since he wont be attending another Parliment siting for the next 5 years. Sometimes hard work just doesnt pay off huh.....

Chocolate

When I caught the trailer to this movie, I was left with my mouth open wide seeing the moves and hard knocks this young girl is taking while filming this movie.

Chocolate is the latest from director Prachya Pinkaew, the man at the helm of Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong/The Protector starring the inimitable Tony Jaa.

The movie stars Nicharee Vismistananda who has been training for years in preparation for this role. She plays an autistic girl who goes after gang members to collect debts to help her sick mother.

So I asked one of my Thai colleagues, has he caught this action movie? He told me yes and thumbs up to Nicharee. Yes, this is back to basics, where special effects are virtually non existent. This will be plain old skool slobberknocker. Put a few guys in a scene and it will be battle royale, kicks and punches flying everywhere.

So when this movie is released in Singapore next month, you can be sure I will be there to watch it.

Forbidden Kingdom

Once you have a fantasy flick, you cant escape the plot of having a loser kid transforming into a man or a hero. So thats the basis of the whole story in Forbidden Kingdom. Even Jackie Chan in one of his interviews admitted that he is not too interested in the plot until he heard that Jet Li is already on board for this one.

Its kinda weird seeing fellow Chinese speaking English and during ancient times? However the movie turned out fine for pure entertainment value. Its hard for me to passed on this movie when Jet Li and Jackie Chan are my 2 biggest idols. Having 2 of them on the silver screen just left me gasping for more. So here I was in the cinema on a Sunday morning.

I hope for their next collaboration, they would do something on a more serious tone. Maybe having Jet Li reprising his role as Wong Fei Hong and Jackie Chan as the Drunken Master under So Hat Yee. Remember, if you have watched Once Upon A Time In China before, Wong Fei Hong did mentioned why he never uses his fist as his fist techniques are more deadly than his No Shadow Kick. Then he starts to drink some wine, and uses his drunken fist technique to defeat his opponent. Drunken Fist meets No Shadow Kick. That be an instant classic.

It be great if they can slug it off for the fans on screen. By the way, this must be a Hong Kong production, if not it will certainly lose its originality if it was produced in Hollywood instead.

Dogs

The other day I was talking to Kim about dogs. Both of us are dog lovers especially her. Back in Korea she has a dog Jamtegi (sleepy head). Jamtegi of course became my friend after only a short stint there for me. Jamtegi can really do neat tricks. You should see it, to believe it.

Anyway, I asked her. How would I know if its a male or female dog? So Kim drew me an illustration. Hahahaha, okay. After looking at this drawing, things are much clearer now for me. Plus we always wanted to have a dog.

And I will look at dogs differently from now on. Thanks to the drawing above of course.

Stereophonics in Singapore

Lifted this up from Today edition dated 17th Apr 2008. I am all geared up to rock with Stereophonics when they are down here to perform. What I like about them is that their raw jagged sound will be perfect for a live concert.

And I have filled my IPod with only Stereophonics songs, all the way from their 1st album Words Get Around to their latest album which I find it brilliant, Pull The Pin.

Singapore welcomes Stereophonics...........

Surround Sound
Kelly Jones, the Stereophonics frontman, talks about life, longevity and how not to get bored

FOR most employees, working more than 10 years with the same company usually means getting a gift of some sort — like a pen or a commemorative mug.

However, if your company happens to be the Welsh band Stereophonics, your "gift" might be a little different. For instance, you could find yourself in the studio recording new songs while in the middle of your world tour.

"We've got a 'greatest hits' coming out at the end of the year, so, we're in the studio recording new songs for that," Stereophonics' lead singer Kelly Jones told Today over the phone from London.

"Yes, we're pretty much in the middle of a world tour, but in between venues we go into the studio to do some new song ideas and stuff, just to keep the writing thing going — and it's going really well."

The rock trio are also gearing up for the Australasian leg of their Pull The Pin tour, which will cover New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and Singapore. They will play at Fort Canning Park on April 28.

"We've been going around the world for about 10 or 11 years now, so, it's always good to go round to places you've never played before," said the 33-year-old father of one.

"The gigs have been great because we've been showing off our catalogue of the last 10 years, so, if you've been a follower of the band from the very beginning, you get a bit of everything."

And fans here can expect the same thing. "The show is a high-energy, rock 'n' roll show with lots of big songs, so it's going to be good," enthused Jones.

Stereophonics — Jones, bassist Richard Jones (no relation) and drummer Javier Weyler (original drummer Stuart Cable was replaced in 2003 due to commitment issues) — have come a long way since 1997, when they released their first album, Word Gets Around. Before that, they were known as Tragic Love Company, a name amalgam of Tragically Hip, Mother Love Bone and Bad Company — bands the trio liked.

The band celebrated their 10th "official" anniversary last year with the release of Pull The Pin, and their retrospective DVD Rewind. In between, the band lost a drummer, found a new one, scored five consecutive No 1 albums, recorded and performed with some of the biggest names in pop music, played to their biggest audience at Live 8 and wrote the theme music for Ewan McGregor's TV series Long Way Round.

"Many things have happened, but I think the band's biggest achievement is to still be as relevant as when we first came out," Jones said, explaining Stereophonic's longevity. "There's no special formula. We do what we do, we work hard, we play hard, we try to do our best … and that's it really.

"We've had a lot of ups and downs, but we've all stuck together as friends. We get along really well and socialise with each other. We're not a one-trick pony and I think we've always enjoyed showing a different side of our abilities. That's what excites us the most," added the former youth boxer.

And no, he's not tired of playing rock star. "It's what I've always done, since I was 12 and played my first gig," said Jones. "I don't see it as a job — it's what I love to do. I love creating, I love writing. It's a challenge, really. I love the process and all that problem solving — that's what I get off on. I like challenges, otherwise, I get bored. It's not the trophies and the accolades. It's knowing that we've still got so much to offer that we haven't even touched on half of them yet."

But doesn't playing the same songs over and over get a little tedious? "You don't get bored!" said Jones. "Because when you've got six albums, you can vary the songs in your set list every day if you want to! It's quite surprising how all the songs almost blend into one another really well. We really enjoy playing them live and that shows. As soon as we get bored with a song, we stop playing it."

As for critics in the crowd at the Fort Canning gig, Jones isn't bothered: "I don't really analyse myself too hard, really. I used to do that when I was younger, but now I just get on with it and accept where I am. I know I'm a good person and I do what I can. The band does what the band does and people will react or they won't — there's nothing more we can do about it."

"Generally, I've found that if people have bought a ticket, they're halfway on our side."

ROCK BAND ADVENTURES
1992
.Kelly Jones, Richard Jones and Stuart Cable form Tragic Love Company.

1996
.Tragic Love Company changes its name to Stereophonics and becomes the first band signed by V2, a record label started by Richard Branson.

1997
.Debut album Word Gets Around is released, and hits No 6 on the UK charts.

1998
.Sophomore album Performance and Cocktails gives them their first No 1.

2001
.The band face media backlash because their song Mr Writer, from Just Enough Education To Perform, attacks the media.

2003 to 2004
.Original drummer Cable is sacked because of "commitment issues", after missing several rehearsals and live concerts. Steve Gorman, drummer for The Black Crowes (with whom Stereophonics were touring with) stands in for remaining dates.

2004 to 2005
.Jones writes the theme song for Ewan McGregor's road trip TV series, Long Way Round. "Ewan was a fan of the band and he asked me to do the song, and that was that, really. I just did it for him. It's a good show," he said. Jones altered the lyrics for the sequel Long Way Down. The fifth studio album, Language. Sex. Violence. Other?, features new drummer, Javier Weyler. The band gets its first No 1 single with the punky, upbeat Dakota.

2007
.Pull The Pin is their fifth consecutive No 1 album. Jones releases his solo album, Only The Names Have Been Changed. Said Jones: "I had a few songs leftover from Pull The Pin. They had a theme with the girl song titles and it just became its own project. It had no singles, no marketing — it was quite refreshing, actually."

2008
.During a performance at the monthly Q The Music Club event, Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones joins the band onstage. "I've no clue what's going on," said Jones at the time.

Number Portability is ON in Singapore

I blogged about number portability service in Sept 2007 last year under the title Who will be FIRST?

IDA then said that this service will be ready by Q2 2008. And today ChannelNews Asia has revealed that this service will be available come 13-June-2008. Just as they predicted last Sept-07. When implemented from 13 June, full mobile number portability will allow anyone who wishes to keep their current number when they switch mobile operator, to do so by the next working day. How cool is that? IDA was spot on. Thats why they say Singapore is a great nation.

Now this brings to mind 2 things. First, why in the hell I renewed my contract just to get a new handphone? And how about Malaysia anyway? Back then they said, Q1-08 it will be ready. Is the service already in place? Can someone across the causeway let me know?

UMNO President = PM Msia

"“Remember, we are not just changing the (Umno) president, we are changing the prime minister. Other parties can change their president tomorrow, they can tell their president to go today; not Umno," she told reporters after five-hour meeting with Wanita leaders yesterday."

Datin Seri Rafidah Aziz

Is she right in saying this? I think Rafidah should take a step back and tell herself that being UMNO President does not equate to having one becoming the Prime Minister of Malaysia. It was never written in the Federal Consitution that an UMNO President automatically becomes Prime Minister of Malaysia. However the Constitution does say that to be the Prime Minister, one should be able to command the majority of Parliment.

So since UMNO being the single most dominant party and head of Barisan Nasional (BN), theoratically being President of UMNO indirectly makes him Prime Minister of Malaysia.

However this may not be true anymore. A recent case can be seen in Terengganu where Idris Jusoh was passed over by the Sultan despite him having the majority support of the State Assembly.

Plus, with Pak Lah's shaky position in UMNO itself and Opposition's hold on 82 seats in Parliment, it just take some no confidence votes from his own camp mixed together with Opposition members votes, sending Pak Lah into an awkward situation never seen before in this country. Thus putting into doubt his ability to command a majority in Parliment.

So Rafidah, please dont oversimplify the situation. Things are not as clear as it is anymore after the General Election. And nothing is engraved in stone.

Chair and blankets

Got this legless chair from Muji at $89.00, paid $79.00 since I still had a $10 voucher for Paragon. Actually we had been thinking should we be getting this chair or not for some time now. So when I called up Muji in Bugis, they had already soldout this chair, left only with the smaller size version. Definately wont fit my big body frame. So called up another outlet in Paragon. Thankfully they had 1 left in their store. This chair is kinda cool as it has some gear inside. You can push the chair upwards and back down 180 degrees.

It comes with a cover too. And what Kim did is to sew another piece of cover to protect the chair on top of the cover given. As you can see, she used a Thai Airways blanket. Thanks to me since I often nicked airline blankets when I fly. Why? Because there are comfy. Some of it, Kim had sewn 2 pieces together to make a one piece gigantic blanket. For this chair, she made it into a chair cover.

Neat huh?

Pig protests

Protest protest protest. Object of protest this time is on pig farm. Yes, and whatever ammunitions UMNO can find, they will use it to their advantage. Teresa Kok was one of the earlier victims in which her blog was a target by Utusan that sent Teresa into a defensive mode on her article on the pig farm in Selangor.

Frankly I want to ask this protesters which I assume mostly made of UMNO, whats their anger is all about? Is it because pig is considered "haram" in Islam or is it because its an environmental hazzard or both? As we all know, this project was initally agreed upon by BN state govt although now Khir Toyo said he agreed only on principal, dont know what he means by that and I dont even care. Tanjung Sepat is plagued with illegal pig farms and polution today, so to centralized it under one roof in Kuala Langat utilizing the latest technology from Germany certainly is a viable option to pursue.

It doesnt help as well, Ali Rustam's blog Dari Kacamata Mohd Ali Rustam, http://www.mohdalirustam.blogspot.com/ penned a writing titled Ladang ternakan babi hadiah pilihan raya. But based on the barrage of negative comments he has received in his blog, I believe he can pack his bags and give this topic a rest.

So we are witnessing protests in Selangor, then why protests seems muted in Sarawak? In Sarawak, it was reported that there are plans to build a pig farm to cater 30% of Singapore's domestic needs, located in Pasir Puteh along the Pan Borneo highway.The farm is estimated to cost RM70 million, not too far off from the RM100 million project in Selangor. So is there hidden motive behind these protests? In Sarawak, BN is controlling the state elsewhere in Selangor its an Opposition controlled state. So its okay to have pig farm under BN but not under Opposition? I seriously believe BN hasnt learn their lesson yet.

If BN is is trying to destroy Selangor state govt credibility hoping to drag PAS along with it, then they have underestimated the voters intelligence yet again.

Soi Lek is back

The man that was once the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons in 2008 is back. MCA top guns will have something to fear from this guy as MCA was handed a bashing by the people in 08-Mar-08. And Soi Lek himself did not dispel the eventuality of him returning to fight for the top posts in MCA.

With his son winning in Labis, personally I felt that it was a good a indicator to test sentiment on the ground (although its a well known BN stronghold). With his son winning the Parlimentary seat, looks like the stage is set for him to make a comeback.

And get this, Soi Lek has a blog too. Recently we have seen a big spike on BN members dabbling into blogging. But how many BN bloggers have Lim Kit Siang's blog as one of their links? Hint hint. Kit Siang is one of the well known most ferocious voices against injustices. Is Soi Lek springing another suprise but this time round for a much better reason? Only time will tell.............

Mahateh Strikes Back

Many lawyers were angry with me because I had quoted Shakespeare during a Cabinet meeting which says "the first thing we do, we hang the lawyers". I was only joking but they heard of it and believed I meant what I said. The judges also felt unhappy with me

Tun Mahathir

Above was an excerpt from his letter to The Sun on 7th Apr 2008. Sounds like a barrel of baloney to me. How would he like it if someone suggest hanging him and then say it was a joke? Plus come on, Cabinet meeting is a serious time for serious business and not a parody of jokes by Ministers. Lucky for people of planet Earth, he was once only Prime Minister of Malaysia.........nothing more than that.

Top 10 List of People That Should Shut Their Bloody Gab

There are many kind of people in the world we are living today. Dunia yang penuh dengan manusia pelbagai adat dan ragam. However there are certain group of people which I think they should just shut their gap cause their voices are irrelevant or its just a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Here is my Top 10 List of People That Should Shut Their Bloody Gab

1. Dr Mahathir - His recent attacks on Pak Lah I liken as a case of pointing 1 finger with 4 fingers pointing back at you. During Dr M administration, there were blatant and tonnes of gross injustices which I should not waste anyone's time itemizing it here. So Dr M, you deserve the No.1 spot for being the man who still unrepent and still demonizing others when the person you should reflect is yourself.

2. Ong Ka Chuan - People has labelled MCA as Ong dynasty party. I wouldnt go that far to stake this claim. However the fact I cant fathom is that this guy is a sore loser. Remember in the previous 2 General Election, he lost to Fong Po Kuan in Batu Gajah and wept on tv. Then he packed his bags and fought in a safe seat this time in Tapah. Now he is back as a Minister, and firing his salvo on DAP's co operation with PAS. First thing first, Ka Chuan, if you insist on being a Chinese racist and discard the spirit of being a Malaysian that transcends race and religion, please feel free to do so. But remember, your racist thinking is not welcomed anymore. This is a new dawn for Malaysia, where every Malaysians live together in harmony.

3. Samy Vellu - 3rd time is a charm for his opponent, Dr Jeyakumar. beating incumbent Samy Vellu in his own turf. But still he is clinging on to his post of MIC president. And how can I forget his famous remark in TV3, and I quote "DAP sudah mati". Well looks like we know who mati in the end, well literally speaking. And dramatically Samy has changed his spots asking for Hindraf 5 release.

4. Khairy Jamaluddin - When tsunami was sweeping Malaysia on 08-Mar, I was hoping it will hit Rembau and Che Gu Bard will prevail there. Well it was an almost likely scenario there....almost. Khairy first embroiled in the ECM-Libra case. After that, no turning back for this Oxford kid. His samseng ways like endorsing Mat Rempit, makes me wanna puke. Please Khairy, saves us by not speaking rubbish when Parliment reconvenes in 28-Apr.

5. Hishamuddin - Kerismuddin is Khairy's tag team partner in UMNO Youth. Never failed to brandish his keris in UMNO General Assembly and arrogantly said during the general election, bring him a strong opponent to fight in his constituency. Okay, so he won. Big deal. Johor has always been kubu kuat UMNO. The birthplace of UMNO. Since he is not defending his Umno Youth Chief post, I guess he wont be taking out the keris again. Hope his keris days are over. Like Raja Petra said in one of his ceramah, "keris saya simpan sebagai harta, bukan buat sebagai senjata"

6. Khir Toyo - He was once UMNO raising star. From obscurity, Mr Dentist here was named as Selangor MB. But soon after, the only success he can show is giving penyapu(broom) to non performers for civil servants, wasting public funds in building a village for Exco members, and embroiled himself in many other controversies even after he has lost the state govt to PKR. In the running for Umno Youth Chieft post this year and dabbled into blogging recently, his star is shinning bright but hope he's not too arrogant because the current Selangor state govt will be watching you.

7. Azalina Othman - Yes, this lady won her seat (Pengerang) without even lifting her finger. And not well liked even by Wanita UMNO top guns, she is Malaysia New Tourism Minister. And whats her first task? To abolish tourism MOUs in Opposition controlled state govt. And bloggers got all the reasons to hate her because before the election she said rumour-mongering bloggers are cowards and a nuisance to Umno. And when she was Sports Minister, she proposed to build a ‘sports excellence academy’ for Malaysian athletes in the outskirts of London, which reportedly could cost nearly half a billion ringgit. Well, hope things were much simpler when she was just a journalist on talkshows in NTV7.

8. Tan Sri Abdul Rashid - Msia EC Chairman, the man famous for saying yes to indelible ink and then made a dramatic U Turn just few days before the General Election that saw his home vandalised with red paint. And till today, I am begging to see the police bring those suspected frauders that attempted to sabotage the indelible ink plan. Why those rogues not brought to court yet? BERSIH is a fan of Abdul Rashid, read all about it here http://bersih.org/?p=663. And anyone caught his pathetic angry annoyed face on television when he was asked by a journalist how the Opposition fared when he was annoucing that BN can form the goverment with a simple majority. That was classic. That really shows how professional he is. Thank God he is not around in the next General Election.

9. M Kayveas - Lost Taiping seat and really dragging PPP into a dark era when it used to be a spent force during the days of Seenivasagam brothers. We are talking about a party that used to be popular in Perak and now, they cant even hold onto a single seat in Taiping. Talking style so brash that no suprises if he is not well liked as well within his own BN component parties. Anyone remember what Ali Rustam said in PPP assembly. That will give you an indication how well liked this man is.

10. Lim Keng Yaik - Lucky for all of us, he is resigning from everything. But despite being irrelevant in today's politics, he still needs to open his big mouth atacking DAP misleading the Chinese by working with PAS. Please, enough of this crap old man. We had enough of Keng Yaik. You speak incoherently most of the times on tv, I am having trouble figuring out what you want to say. Enjoy your retirement and please stay 100 feet away from all form of media.

Another lousy sight

Last night as I was taking my trash out, found some irresponsible HDB dweller did not clear his rubbish properly. Could see the rubbish just left stuck at the rubbish chute. And this person is stupid enough to leave incriminating evidence such as a name in the rubbish.

The picture I took this morning shows the rubbish still on the floor. In order for me to disposed of my own rubbish, I would have need to shove the stuck rubbish down myself. If i could have done it, why this person didnt do it? One word says it all. "Uncivilized". What I found on the floor were packs and packs of medicines with his name on it. And based on this person's name, its easy to guess which unit is he from since there could only be 1 family with that "particular" name on my level. Dont mean to belittle this family, but this are the kind of people that makes a country regressive.

So I have been airing some regular grouses on where I stay. Amazing to find that things over here are so different from other parts of Singapore I have been to.

Looks like me, sounds like me.......

I have heard of many knock off goods but I had personally never held a Nokia lookalike before. Behold, this knock off Nokia handphone. First things first, I am not sure if this model ever existed in the first place. Anyway heard that this kind of handphones are selling cheaply near the borders of Laos and Thailand.

You can find one of these too in Bangkok, but the price should be slightly more expensive versus getting it at the border. Price at the border? 3,500BHT for this baby. So for Sporeans, it cost less than SGD200 and for Msians this cost you like less than RM400. Imagine we're talking about a phone here that packs a BIG punch. We are talking about a phone with camera, MP4, Bluetooth and touch screen functionality. The design is sleek too if I might add.

All of a sudden, felt like I overpaid for my original HTC Touch Dual I got recently hahahahaha, seriously......